On the occasion of a visit to Hungary by the Holy See’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs, H.E. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Most Reverend Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Michael Banach, invited representatives of the diplomatic corps to a meeting with Archbishop Gallagher on 29 March 2025.
The Ambassador of S.M.O.M., Dr Heinz Anton Hafner, took part in the event and had the opportunity for a lengthy exchange of views with the high-level Vatican diplomat.
H.E. Amb. Dr. Heinz Hafner held a talk about the Sovereign Order of Malta to students of the Matthias Corvinus College in Pécs.
In 1925, the Grand Master of the Order, Fra' Galeazzo von Thun und Hohenstein, appointed Count Jenő Karátsonyi, who at the time belonged to the Order's Austrian Grand Priorate, as first Ambassador Extraordinary to Hungary. It was Jenő Karátsonyi who paved the way for the Order of Malta to authorise the creation of a Hungarian national association in 1928. The Hungarian Order of Malta celebrated the centenary at the invitation of H.E. Ambassador Dr. Heinz Anton Hafner, on 10th April at the Church of the Holy Name of the Virgin Mary in Solymár, where Count Jenő Karátsonyi is buried. Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Michael W. Banach, Apostolic Nuncio.
Budapest, March 27, 2025: Archbishop Michael W. Banach, Apostolic Nuncio to Hungary, has been received into the Order as Conventual Chaplain ad honorem Grand Cross in gremio religionis. HMEH the Grand Master John Dunlap delegated the President of the MMLSZ, Kristóf Szabadhegÿ, to preside the induction ceremony, which was held in the chapel of the house of the Order in Budapest, in the presence of HE Ambassador Dr. Heinz Anton Hafner.
