On 4 December 2024, Péter Tusor gave an interview on the M1 television channel, prompted by the Vatican meeting held that day between Pope Francis and the Prime Minister of Hungary. As head of the Fraknói Research Group, he sought to raise his analysis above the level of day-to-day political discourse, which had characterised the conversations preceding the broadcast. In a similar situation, he would have articulated the same considerations with regard to any Hungarian prime minister, regardless of party affiliation or worldview.
One day later, Viktor Kanász was interviewed on Kossuth Radio about the historical antecedents of the meeting and the distinctive features of diplomatic relations between Hungary and the Holy See. In this context, the Research Group’s senior research fellow referred to the symbolic significance of the Chain Bridge during the papal visit of 2023, as a link between East and West, and outlined the role and importance of the principal actors of papal diplomacy—legates and nuncios. He also emphasised that, during the struggles against the Ottoman Empire, Rome provided the Kingdom of Hungary with substantial diplomatic, financial, and military support.
At the end of the year, Miklós Jávor, external research associate of the Group, presented on M1 a key stage on the path toward the canonisation of Áron Márton, focusing on the moment when Pope Francis declared the bishop Venerable.
Péter Tusor's interview (18:20-tól)
