3
0
Egyptian Jesuit priest P. Henri Boulad took the Hungarian citizenship oath on Thursday in the Hungarian Parliament.
He applied for the Hungarian citizenship as a gesture to show his appreciation to the Hungarian government for supporting Christians and Christian values around the world.
Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén emphasized that Hungary, as a Christian country, received its faith and the gospels from the east, therefore, it knows its duty when it comes to supporting Eastern Christians who are in a very difficult situation right now.
Theologian P. Henri Boulad is one of the world's most renowned Jesuit professors; it is a great honor to welcome him among us as a new Hungarian citizen said the deputy-prime minister.
Henri Boulad was born in Alexandria in 1931 into a French speaking Syrian Catholic family; his father was Syrian his mother was Italian.
He entered the Jesuit order in 1950 and in 1963 he was ordained as a priest in Beirut.
He earned three doctorate degrees and after returning to Egypt he taught young people. Later on, he worked with Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta organizing the Egyptian CARITAS; he was involved in setting up refugee camps in Africa as well. For his humanitarian work he received the French Order of Merit Cross.