The facsimile edition of our Liber ruber – a book of copied charters originally written in 1240 – was published a year ago; Archabbot Cirill presented a leather-bound copy of it to Pope Francis on January 27. This autumn, the companion volume to the facsimile was also published, edited by Kornél Szovák and Gyula Mayer.
In mid-September, the abbot-presidents of nineteen Benedictine congregations met at the Monastery of Montserrat, which is celebrating its thousandth anniversary this year. This gathering, lasting just under a week, is an annual forum of the Benedictine Confederation held at varying locations, where participants discuss shared topics of general relevance to monastic life and the Church. Abbot Primate Jeremias Schröder was also present at the event.
On 27th September, in the Pannonhalma Porta Visitors’ Centre, a beer parade was organised. The programme included an informal talk: Nemes Gábor, head of the Centre for Collections in the Diocese of Győr and Dénesi Tamás, the Director of our Archives related the beer culture and alehouses of the bishop’s and abbot’s estates. The programme was completed with a competition of beer-brewing and ale-tasting.
On 24 September, the Archabbey of Pannonhalma and the Committee of National Commemoration (Nemzeti Emlékezet Bizottsága [(NEB]) signed an agreement of cooperation in cultivating, elaborating and presenting the material, intellectual and spiritual legacy of Olofsson Placid, Benedictine monk. The document was signed by Földváryné Kiss Réka, President of NEB and Archabbot Hortobágyi T. Cirill in Budapest.
On 16 August 2025, a commemoration festival was held in Celldömölk on the occasion that Lancsics Bonifác – a Benedictine monk, the author of the hymn: Boldogasszony anyánk [Blessed Virgin Mother] – arrived at the Abbey of Dömölk three hundred years earlier.
Between 30th June and 2nd July, in Eger, the annual itinerary congress and conference was organised by the Association of the Hungarian Ecclesiastical Archivists, the Museologists’ Association of Christian Churches and the Hungarian Alliance of Archivists of Higher Education. On Monday, the associations held their general assembly, and the heads of the archives of higher education had a roundtable talk. On Tuesday, a scholarly conference was held. On Wednesday, the participants visited Feldebrő and Gyöngyös.
Between 27th and 29th June, the seminarists of the Transylvanian Diocese headed by Archbishop Kovács Gergely and their superiors visited Pannonhalma. On their way home from Rome, the seminarists of Gyulafehérvár stayed in the Archabbey for the weekend. They joined in the monastic liturgies, saw the sights of the monastery, the secondary school, the herb-garden, the thematic exhibition of the year, and they also spent some time in the wine-cellars with the Archabbot.
Radda György – biochemist, who elaborated the MRI examination – was remembered by his Alma Mater, his family and his former community of colleagues in Oxford. On this occasion, in the Benedictine Secondary School, a prize hallmarked by the researcher’s name was founded.
For the third time, the Archabbey of Pannonhalma has already honoured the teachers of the schools run by the Archabbey. Twelve teachers received the Honour for Benedictine Education from Archabbot Hortobágyi T. Cirill. After the conventual mass and the honorary ceremony, the honoured teachers visited our Archives where they had a look at our valuable documents.
A more detailed account can be read about the honorary ceremony and the honoured teachers on the Archabbey’s home-page.
On 28th May 2025, in Eger, the 13th National Domain-History Conference was organised by the Hungarian Domain-History Society. Dr. Horváth István, the archivist of the Archdiocese of Eger acted as host to the participants. The conference’s speakers – irrespective of any periods – examined which positions and appointments, trades and crafts were included in the domains, that is, in those socio-economical units, which influenced the country’s social and cultural development far beyond their economic impact.
