Just over two weeks after the Taizé ecumenical meeting in Zagreb, some 60 of the 300 Hungarian youngsters who had attended the youth rally in Croatia met together again the Franciscan church at Pest in the Hungarian capital. The meeting opened with songs and a screening of video footage of the meeting in Zagreb; then in smaller groups the young participants shared their experiences, before going to pray together in the “Catacomb”, a semi-underground retreat close to the church, where prayers following the example of Taizé were recited. The icon of friendship, gift of the friars of Taizé, was also presented at the meeting. The correspondent of the community in Hungary, Annamária Kertész, encouraged the young to carry the icon to all parts of the country, so that it be “a sign of friendship and brotherhood to the prayers of the community, to parishes or to hospital visits”. The friends of Taizé are faced by a major challenge in Hungary this year, namely the “evangelization of the city” due to be held in Budapest, from 16 to 22 September, where the spirituality of Taizé will also be represented, in the form of various activities. At the meeting the young shared ideas on how to plan their participation in the city mission, during which the community intends to run a place of prayer, open not only for evening prayer but also for a programme of other events throughout the day. The Budapest mission follows previous city missions in other European capitals, Brussels, Vienna, Lisbon and Rome. The missions were begun in 2003 to give new impetus to evangelization in the big cities of the continent and help revive the Christian spirit in Europe. Meanwhile Orthodox priests of the diocese of Alba Iulia, close to Sibiu in Romania, where the Third Ecumenical Assembly is due to be held in September, will participate in a European project called “In the European Home”. Its aim is to promote the dissemination of European information even in the remotest regions. To prepare themselves, the priests will take part in seminars on European themes.
