The pastor and the prime minister

Heart and Soul

When Gábor Iványi was a young Protestant minister back in the 1970s standing up to Hungary’s totalitarian Communist regime he promised to stop shaving as a sign of protest. Communism is long gone in Hungary but Ivanyi’s beard keeps getting longer. He fought the Communists side by side with the student leader Victor Orban. He supported Orban and even accompanied him spiritually. Ivanyi is godfather to Orban’s first two children and performed the religious wedding ceremony for Orban. But now Ivanyi has become the prime minister’s most redoubtable opponent. For Ivanyi and some other young Hungarian Christians, Orban’s Christianity means no more than ‘white Christian Europe’. Orban has taken away the state subsidy to Ivanyi’s church. The Methodist, who runs a shelter for the homeless, gypsies and migrants, was refused access to refugees when he tried to bring them food. Other Christians publicly criticise Hungary’s interpretation of Christianity. Lutheran blogger Dóra Laborczih edits an independent blog called Christian Culture which attacks the intrusion of right-wing populism into Hungary’s religious life. Through Ivanyi and Dora we hear how Christians in Hungary are divided on issues such as immigration and we hear from Christians who support Orban and his policies. John Laurenson travels to Hungary where a bearded pastor with a house full of refugees and a prime minister who has just won his third consecutive general election victory are at war over the meaning of Christianity.

Image: Viktor Orban (Credit: Zoltan Mathe/EPA)