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Hungarian president Novak Katalin to take part in Catholic Pentecost pilgrimage in Sumuleu Ciuc.
The president of Hungary, Novak Katalin, will participate on Saturday in the Catholic Pentecost pilgrimage in Sumuleu Ciuc, central Harghita county, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and considered the largest of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe, told Agerpres.
The information was confirmed on Wednesday at a press conference by director of the Franciscan church in Sumuleu Ciuc, Father Timár Sándor Asztrik, who said that the president of Hungary is of the Reformed confession, but will devoutly participate in the pilgrimage.
The former Hungarian president, Ader Janos, will also participate in the event, as he and his wife are present every year at the pilgrimage in Sumuleu Ciuc.
Father Timár Sándor Asztrik said that many pilgrims from the country and from Hungary will come to the procession, with pilgrims from Australia, Sweden and the USA also expected to attend. Also, many faithful, especially those from Harghita, but also some from Hungary, will come on foot to the place where the liturgy of Pentecost Saturday will be celebrated.
Present at the press conference, the mayor of Miercurea-Ciuc, Korodi Attila, said that more than 300,000 people are expected to attend the event, pointing out that the authorities are prepared for the great pilgrimage.
The Sumuleu Ciuc pilgrimage has a history of more than 450 years, with the miracle-working statue of the Virgin Mary in the Franciscan church at its heart.
Legend has it that, in 1567, the prince of Transylvania, Ioan Sigismund, tried to impose Unitarianism on the Roman Catholic believers of the Szekler seats of Ciuc, Gheorgheni and Casin, and people say that only with the help of the miracle-working statue were they able to resist and preserve their ancestral faith.
Since then, every year on Whit Saturday, Catholics from all over the world, mostly Hungarian-speaking, come on pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Virgin Mary in Sumuleu Ciuc.
The Marian shrine of Sumuleu Ciuc was visited on June 1, 2019 by Pope Francis, on which occasion the miracle-working statue of the Virgin Mary was removed from the church for the first time since World War II.
The Pontiff then celebrated a Mass dedicated to the Virgin Mary and presented a golden rose to the Marian shrine, as he does when he goes to pilgrimage sites dedicated to Virgin Mary.
