Dr. Tamás Sulyok's letter of greeting to the Franciscan Jubilee Conference entitled "Discernment and Understanding, oh Lord!"

I respectfully and warmly greet the speakers and participants of the conference!

Our event encompasses two celebrations. The first is connected to St. Francis, one of the most influential saints in the Christian world, and his followers. The second is connected to the intellectual workshop that, combining the collective knowledge of the Hungarian monastic orders, became the primary educational institution for young people who had found their monastic vocation and for believers who wished to educate themselves in a monastic spiritual milieu.

The Sapientia College of Theology, in cooperation with Hungary's leading monastic orders, has been one of Hungary's leading theological institutions for decades. It is not only an academic centre, but also a home for constantly renewing communities. The institution has the power to build, shape and maintain communities - just like the monastic orders that founded it.

In our world, where knowledge of faith and the church has become diluted, some people imagine most monks as reclusive individuals living in seclusion in monasteries, cut off from the world. We Hungarians, if we keep our eyes open in our country or even in the Carpathian Basin, cannot think of them in this way. Monks, although unfortunately fewer and fewer in number, are present in all areas of life, right here among us.

The most prominent example of this presence is provided by the Franciscans. They were already present in Hungary at the time of the order's foundation, during the life of St Francis. They shared with us the good times and, even more often, the bad times. They were humble and steadfast in every situation. In faith, in goodness, in helping others. They stood their ground also when many had fallen. For long periods of time, they were the only ones we could turn to when we needed to strengthen our faith or ease our pain.

This is how the Franciscan brothers became an integral part of the Hungarian homeland. They are at home in the Carpathian Basin. And they are still here today, among many people and alongside many people. Their presence is constant even in places that few can reach.

But the monks themselves can always be reached. They are there at the crossroads of busy and bustling streets, they are there alongside those pushed to the margins of society, they are there alongside the needy little ones or the dwindling communities of our compatriots. In the centre of the city, they proclaim the eternal and the imperishable with the ringing of bells, waiting for everyone to enter their churches. They are devoted missionaries, standing by those still clinging to hope, often serving as their only source of light in despair. They are also there for those who must be gathered because others are unwilling or unable to care for them, offering the possibility of a brighter future. They help the fallen and the sick, teach and educate the next Hungarian generation, and provide wise and decisive guidance so that we may be strengthened in our faith and not stray from our path. Thus, for many of us, they are the most faithful bearers of hope.

St. Francis followed the path of the Lord in a way that few others in history have been able to do. And not only in a spiritual sense, but in reality. He was present in communities where, 1,200 years earlier, our Lord Jesus had also been present.  He was there among the poor, the sick, the fallen, the needy, and those seeking spiritual guidence. His followers still walk this path today. Regardless of external circumstances, they faithfully proclaim the Gospel and faithfully care for and serve those entrusted to their care. And we, Hungarians, have been constantly witnessing their mission.

The Franciscan brothers do not show off, they do not look down on the world, and above all, they do not look the other way. The Franciscan brothers look at both the smallest and the greatest at eye level, and thus see what St. Francis saw in leprosy. They lift everyone up with their simplicity.

St Francis asked for discernment and understanding so that he could do what the Lord commanded as "holy and true". Looking at the history of the order he founded and observing its present, I believe that his followers have certainly been granted these charisms.

As a Christian, I am proud that the Franciscans faithfully and exemplarily follow the path that the Saviour has laid out for all of us. As a Hungarian, I am proud that they have been doing this in our country for eight hundred years.

May God bless them, the entire Franciscan family and all monastic communities in Hungary!

On this Sapientia Day, I also pray for God’s blessing upon the college community, which continues to preserve and enrich its cherished values.

I hope that today's conference presentations will further refine our discernment and understanding, so that we, too, can fulfil the Lord's commandments well and faithfully.

Dr. Tamás Sulyok
Budapest, 15 November 2025