good afternoon everyone my name is Thomas Walter I’m the president of the student government Association here at the University I’d like to thank you all for being here at Ave Maria University for this very momentous occasion I’d like to thank everyone who is here in particular acknowledging all the AMU students faculty and staff present including our chaplain father Rick martinetti as well as the elected officials and other special guests we have here with us today including former U.S ambassador to the Slovak Republic Vincent obsidnik and his wife Anne-Marie I’d also like to welcome the Ave Maria towns people who are here in attendance without further Ado please stand as we welcome president Catalina Novak of Hungary to join me here on stage [Applause]

and you can all pause for a second as she’s making her way to the stage I just wanted to let you all know what an honor it is for the entire student body here in Ave Maria to be able to host this momentous occasion you can all be seated for one second

in the sunny town of Ave Maria a small town where we all reside this is truly special and I know I speak for all of the student body here when I say that we’ve been excited for this event and we are thrilled to hear what president Novak has to say to us we know that for the students here who are in the classroom who are listening to teachers on a regular basis there’s nothing better than a real experience with those who lead who lead with courage it is a particular honor to be able to listen to a dignitary of such a stature from a foreign country and we are particularly grateful for Madame President Novak being with us today I’ll give them a few minutes in the back and without further Ado let’s please welcome to the stage Madam president Novak

all right I’d like to invite our chaplain and director of campus ministry father Rick martinetti to give the invocation the invocation will be immediately followed by the amu’s chamber and concert choir’s joint performance of Philip stopford’s Ave Maria under the direction of Dr Bryce gerlock artist and residence and Dr Taylor ferrenti associate professor and chair of music

thank you please join me in prayer

in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen

Lord God we praise you we love you we thank you so much for all the wonderful things we get to experience being part of this beautiful University thank you for the visit of the president of Hungary and all who came with her May their visit May their time with us be blessed be guided by your Holy Spirit bless all the words that she has to share with us this day Bless the people of Hungary and all those that are striving for Christian Family Values we pray for a we a Reawakening of good values in our families in our own hearts may we all seek to love one another as Christ has taught us without counting the cost putting the other person before ourselves bless all that is shared this evening let it be guided by your Holy Spirit and speak individually to our hearts challenging us and showing us how we can continue to promote the values that Christ has shared with us may he bless all that we do this evening in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen

[Music] foreign

[Music] [Applause]

[Music] every morning

[Music] foreign

[Music]

everybody [Music]

[Music]

thank you

[Applause]

we are so grateful to our choirs for that beautiful performance I’d like to now ask president Mark Middendorf to welcome and introduce Her Excellency president Catalin Novak [Applause] thank you Thomas and thank you Father Rick for that inspirational prayer into the amu’s choir for Lending their voices to honor our blessed mother who this University is fully consecrated to before I begin I would also like to express my gratitude to all who made this event possible from the organizers security Secret Service Aladdin or ushers Thomas Walter our president of SGA and so many other volunteers and especially to Julie Musselman my chief of staff and Alex barch who really have worked tirelessly for the last three days preparing for today and to the president Dr Christian von gossan of ITI Catholic University in Austria for his invaluable support that enabled this event to happen today and by the way they are also a Newman guide School

now this is the first time in the history that Ave Maria university has had the great honor and privilege to welcome a head of state of a foreign Nation thank you Madame President

for visiting Ave Maria University and speaking with our students thank you to all the dignitaries today for joining us and all those here that are blessed to call Ave Maria Florida their home and thank you madam President also for spending time earlier today with Tom Monahan our founder and Chancellor and the others that joined us now president Novak holds the distinction of being elected the first female president of Hungary in 2022 prior to becoming president

prior to becoming president she served as minister of family Affairs and the state Secretary for family and youth affairs where she was the architect of the most pro-family policy that any country in Europe has known in modern times

professionally she’s an economist in addition to her mother tongue she’s fluent in English German French and conversational Spanish but more impressive is the fact that President Novak is a strong woman of faith married for 21 years to a loving husband and the proud mother of three children and her commitment to Christian Family Values led her to pausing her career for several years to stay home with her three children who are now teenagers her positive stance on pro-life and pro-family issues places her firmly in line with avemer University’s valuable values and principles she also by the way starts every day with reading scripture which I love that and publicly publicly gives all the honor to God for her success [Applause] now during her time in office government expenditures for families over the last 12 years have doubled or nearly doubled resulting in the highest fertility rate in the EU abortions have fallen by over 40 percent and they have an experience an increase in marriages of over 89 percent this turnaround from these pro-life and pro-family policies has been transformational to Hungary [Applause] and finally I would be very remiss if I didn’t mention especially at a university like Ave Maria University that the first king of the great country of Hungary was a Catholic Saint Stephen found it hungry in the year of Our Lord one thousand and I am sure he is interceding in Madame president’s work today please join me in welcoming Her Excellency president Catalina Novak [Applause]

maybe I should already finish because I am not sure I will have such a success at the end

each morning I wake up the first thing I do is but I switch off my alarm but then I read the Bible and I started on my cell phone but then I gave it up as well and I always look up the Bible because I just realized when I read the the writings on my phone then just you know messages come up and something always just attires my retention so I cannot concentrate on the reading so I take my Bible and I read the the writings for the given day so that’s what I did when I I was getting prepared to today’s meeting with you then I read the writings for today and today it was Luke 21 and I just quote some sentences from Luke 21 which says that Nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom there will be great earthquakes famines and pestilences in various places and fearful events and great signs from heaven but before all this they will seize you and persecute you and so you will bear testimony to me but make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves for I give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict when I read these lines then I knew that I will know what to tell you what to say to you because I will get the wisdom I will get the words that I need in order to express what I want to share with you today just as it happened to me so many times already in my professional life and in my private life and then it speaks about wars under earthquakes I come from Hungary Hungary is a direct neighbor to Ukraine I don’t know how much you are familiar with the European geography but you should know that our country being a direct neighbor to Ukraine it means that we are living in the shadows of a war just we have lived in the shadows of a war for one year so we understand and we experience on a daily basis what it means to live very near to a war and there is the war from of Russia against Ukraine just in our neighborhood which also means that given our history we have 150 000 hungarians living over our orders and the territory of Ukraine they live as members of the Hungarian ethnic minority in Ukraine so they are also directly hit by the war that means that Hungarian lives are are also lost in this world war already so that is for us a constant threat which we live in and we also had a very big earthquake in Turkey you might have heard about it just very recently so yes nations against Nations Wars and earthquakes these are just happening and we are just over the the pandemic very recently so that is the let’s say uh geopolitical setting what the writing is about today but it also says that we should shouldn’t fear that we we should bear testimony and I think if we know that we if we serve our heavenly father and we if we bear testimony then we we should never fear anything or anybody that no matter if we see all these conflicts these word conflicts or the pandemics or the earthquakes or the national disasters we just know that we have to stick to our faith to our common faith and believe in our heavenly father and we will survive and that also means that when we speak when we express ourselves when we share our thoughts with each other then we we also have to stick to these same values and we should never deny him and I’m so happy to see her and hear a baby in the room so please if he or she cries it doesn’t matter it doesn’t bother me I’m a mother of three children so I know what how it is and please stay and then uh thank you for the interactive words and and you told so much about me and also about my country that I will skip just also some parts of my presentation thank you for that I’m happy that even these these news come all the way here to here to Florida I am very proud to experience that uh but still it was also so refreshing to hear that when uh you present me then you don’t only mention my academic degrees you don’t actually mention the I don’t know the knowledge of foreign languages among which I mean my mother tongue Hungarian is the most complicated and the most unique nobody else speaks Hungarian other than the hungarians around the world and I know that you have a Hungarian student also and a Hungarian professors um well our language is very very complicated and it is actually a hidden code so nobody else understands other than us I’m telling you it has more disadvantages than advantages but still you can you can enjoy it unless you want to really speak about somebody who is who is around you very far away from you necessarily will be Hungarian around and we’ll understand what you are saying that’s for sure no matter we are not so numerous so it’s it’s always about you know the academic degrees it’s always about the studies it’s always about the professional experience I was also a member of the parliament I was also Vice chairman of the now governing party I I I I have really quite an experience in the governmental work as a state Secretary and Minister and all that and I also have a degree in low end and and economics so that’s all important is important of course and thank you for for sharing that as well but thank you much more for sharing the personal aspects which are for me much more important the fan family I come from and the family that we founded with my husband and the fact that I live together with somebody I have lived with him for 21 years and of course it is a very beautiful and it’s very hard sometimes but but it’s the decision that we made 21 years ago to to to stand by each other and the decision that we make on a daily basis not once but several times a day that that is just something that makes me aware to be where I am and who I am and also what I I became it is also thanks to my parents my loving family right loving extended family and also the grandparents with whom I had the privilege to meet on a daily basis with all four of them so I was really raised I would say in in privileged circumstances it doesn’t mean that we were Rich we weren’t but we were rich and loving and and that is the the family the family that defines me as well and also the privilege that three times in my life I could give birth I should give birth to to our children which are really the greatest joys of our life sources of our joy for our lives and also which you also mentioned and I would like to underline my Christian faith my my Christian identity that that is also a very uh decisive for me on a daily basis and these are these values are the ones that that on which I can rely on and I and which I can be sure that I will meet good decisions and the only reason is because I know that where my direction where my devotion comes from and I’m also very privileged and and proud that I can serve as the first woman president of my country and also the ever youngest president which is not really a married but but it’s a fact but that gives me the chance to to to show and example that that it is visible I mean even having three kids and having spent six years at home as a stay-at-home mom and not caring with anything else but the children you can even be at the top of a country if you want so and if you are of course if you are lucky and uh and if you have the chance but it is not excluded so that is about myself about Hungary our country just some words because I don’t know how many of you have already visited Hungary who has already been to Hungary okay not money I hope that next year if this question arises then it will be much more then I hope that I can raise your uh attraction or your attention to to our country it is not a big country we live in the middle in the heart of Europe but surrounded by many other countries the size of Hungary is uh is just a half of that of Florida the population of Hungary is also around the half of that of Florida so compared to to Florida even we are not that big but we have a thousand year old history which we can also rely on and you know having a thousand year old history that gives you some self-confidence some self uh identity self-conscious meaning that we were there already 1 000 years ago and that our country was founded on Christian basis that is for us very decisive that means that when the king who founded our country Hungary had the dish or faced the decision either to to to choose a non-Christian or a Christian way his choice was to choose the Christian way and his choice just defines our existence ever since and and we don’t deny our founding fathers Saint Stephen but we emphasize our Christian identity and our Christian culture also on a let’s say on a daily basis and in all our decisions what I would like to talk to you about today is the calling of the Christian that Christians that just as in the title from two aspects first is the calling of Christians as a state as in politics and and also personally so first of all uh as a state as Hungary what does it mean that we are a Christian country that we have Christian Roots that we have Christian identity that we have Christian culture just as I told our country was funded by a king who votes the later Saint who became later Saint and his decision was to fight to to choose the Christian path and that also means that Hungary is by definition Christian or let’s say our culture is by definition Christian that our our destiny is by definition Christian I would even say that our predestination is to be Christians so we hungarians we live in a Christian country if we live in Christian culture and what does that mean in practice that means that we for for us sovereignty is very important sovereignty as foreign National sovereignty is very important we are NATO allies we are members of the European Union so we are members of different alliances but we never give up on our sovereignty we stick to our Sovereign decisions we stick to our our national identity so for us our national sovereignty it is something that nobody can take away from us and it also means that for us the personal sovereignty is also very important to to have Sovereign people Sovereign persons in the country and to respect each other’s sovereignty and the second that we respect human dignity and there I will tell you that we even have a new Constitution which dates back to 2011 and I find this very important because in our our constitution we just set the basis for our everyday life and that means that in our constitution we have sentences that you don’t really find in nowadays constitutions in most of the countries for example in our constitution we Define that we protect human life from the moment of conception so that means

we we just say and I quote that human life is inviolable and it should be protected from the moment of conception so we just stay that life begins with conception then we say about marriage we have a definition for marriage which which is the union of one man and one woman based upon their Mutual consent so marriage should necessarily be the relationship of one man and one woman

watch out because there is even more uh that you cannot imagine this one we say that the father is a man and the mother is a woman [Applause] and you could ask why did we have to put that in the in our constitution but you don’t ask that I I think you do all understand why we had to actually put this in our constitution so we Define evidences that you find evident I find evident but nowadays these uh evident phrases are just questioned and I remember back then being a state Secretary for families when we had this Amendment of the Constitution of saying that the mother is a woman and the father is a man we were also very harshly criticized for it but then I asked back then what’s your problem with it I mean can anybody have any critical points on that and honestly no nobody could really raise any serious concern about it because nobody can question that so we have phrases like that in our Constitution which sets it clear that we stand up for the protection of life that we stand up for the protection of family traditional family and also the for the protection of Mary marriage and we also stand for human dignity and the the uh the real human dignity means for me that we really do respect the other and I think that is a very disrespect this tolerance it is a very uh misleading expression sometimes because it is sometimes so misunderstood or misinterpreted meaning that they make us believe or make you believe that tolerance or tolerance means that you deny your our personal convictions that you deny our personal identity so that you can be tolerant with the other so that you can be respectful with the other that is actually not true so I can only be a good Christian and respect the non-Christian let’s say belief or non-belief of anybody if I hold the cross on my around my necktite and I stick to my Christian conviction and never give it up that is the way to become really tolerant that is the way to really be respectful with the others no matter what they think about the life so that’s what that’s what how we we think we should be respectful for each other and the our Christian culture our Christian Traditions our Christian way Christian way of life that just Define our everyday lives and what I would like to share you with is that this Christian alternative actually does work so Krish this Christian alternative is not just some theory that you cannot put in practice you actually can put this in in practice but you needs to have power in order to implement that as well because Goods principles without the power to implement you you can’t reach anything if you have the power to implement but you don’t have good principles then what you do it’s worth nothing either so you need good principles very strong values and also the power of implementation and that’s what we do have actually in Hungary this power of implementation and the will to and the will to implement it and also I would say the courage to implement these values and the courage to put these values in practice so what’s a I would like to tell you that this Christian alternative is a viable example it’s a viable path and while we are here in Florida you can experience also here in practice in Florida that these principles put in practice do actually work and be also can be also very attractive for the majority of the people so you should never surrender and you should stick to these values very very strongly [Applause] so in Hungary uh July the last I would say principle that we have is the is the real Freedom we are a freedom-loving nation we cannot imagine our life without real Freedom if you come to Hungary you will also experience that and what does this real Freedom means it means that you can really speak through freely think freely live freely so that you can really really enjoy your freedom on a on a daily basis and you are led to say what you really believe in and you live the way that you think it’s right and no it that it won’t have any negative consequences on your life and I am so sorry to hear as to see an experience that in many parts of the world right now it is not the fact in theory these are of course free states these are free lives but in practice I see that many times if you don’t go with the mainstream that you will get these negative consequences in your life not in Hungary so in Hungary we really do enjoy the real freedom and what when I say that we put all this in practice then I will speak a little bit about the family policies I am I’m too passionate about family policy so be aware I could stop me if I’m too long uh because it’s really something that uh that uh worries us or worry that bit us before uh and also that we that we fought very hard for over a decade uh for that you have to know that we have a very difficult demographic situation I just looked up the demographic demographic situation of Florida as well and I see how bad your figures are that your fertility rates are also dropping they are even below the average of the US that you also have so you have low birth rates we also did have that imagine that when I started the birth rate was 1.21 what does that mean that in average a couple had only okay there’s no such thing as 1.25 children about 21 children but it means that 10 or 100 couples had 121 children and how many do you need in order to at least maintain your population it’s at least two so the fertility rate the total total fertility rate should be above two in order to maintain your population and can you imagine that in none of the western states let’s say it is now the fact not in the U.S nowhere so in the modern part of the world in our developed states in the western world all over the fertility rate is actually below too but we had 1.21 which is really really very poor that’s that was was when we started and then we are right now at around 1.6 so there that really is the highest increase in the fertility rate uh in in whole Europe which is still very low I mean 1.6 is still very below the average in the United States is 1.66 as far as I know uh here in Florida it’s around 1.47 or something like that so it’s it really is actually very poor so we have we don’t have enough kids to put it so simple and also the problem is that the child bearing is being just postponed and uh and uh and just young people young couples didn’t have uh the the possibility to to raise children and also have their professional dreams being fulfilled in the same time so there is something that we started to deal with and I will just tell you three examples which do exist in Hungary and the uh anymore but in in total I I just to give you an overall picture the amount that we spend for family support in Hungary is six percent of our GDP which if you compare to for example defense expenses which is the NATO uh the goal for the NATO Allied States is two percent of the GDP compared to that six percent of the GDP it really is a very high ratio so we spent six percent of our GDP for for uh family support and I just tell you three examples which can I mean at your age they can be interesting one is that we have tax breaks so once you have children the more children you have the less personal income tax you paid to to put it against so simple and for example if you have at least four children as a mother you have full exemption from personal income tax paying lifelong so once you have four children you don’t pay any personal income tax ever

then then imagine that if I don’t know how many of you have student loans so I guess money so for those of you those of the hungarians actually who have student loans once you have a student loan and later on you will have children then we decrease your student loan with three kids you don’t have to pay back your student loan anymore at all

and the last one and the last one I don’t know how many of you have properties already but it is always a problem so to have your own home and actually we give a quite decisive housing subsidy for the young married couples so that if you’re married and you plan to have children then you give you you can get a a large number of money order to buy or build your own house so we also have this housing subsidy because we think if there are no children there are no families there is no future that is as simple as that and that the child the children are the guarantees for our future so these are just some examples how we Implement all this and and the just as the president mentioned before we have the highest increase of the of the fertility rate we have now the numbers are even better than you said because actually the number of marriages doubled in 10 years and the abortions dropped to the Third actually in 10 years so it really is a I think a quite important outcome of of the measures that we introduced and also the family friendly mentality that we we are trying to introduce in Hungary so that’s that’s all about let’s say how the states uh deals with our Christian conviction and our Christian history and our Christian values and identity and then I will be from then on very personal because it’s it’s about my personal calling and I I thought I would just tell you three stories which which may give you an Insight on on what my Christian calling means to me personally first of all when I was elected 10 months ago it’s only 10 months it’s hard to believe but when I was elected 10 months ago and I remember I was uh that was very first day in office so there is there is a castle or a palace where where my office is actually and that was the first day that I had to go to work as a president and um I went there and I met the previous president and he gave the office over to me it was like you know a a photo opportunity and we we drank a tea coffee and then he left so that was the moment that I was actually there alone and realizing that I am now the president of the country which is quite a weird feeling uh to tell you the truth and so I I just went to the Terrace I have a beautiful Terrace which you can have a gorgeous view on on Budapest which is a beautiful city so I I was there at standing at the Terrace to the very very nice weather almost as in the Sunshine State so it was really very nice and I was just you know looking at Budapest and looking at the city and just thinking it over that from now on for at least five years I’m the president of this country and I I had the feeling that I want to share this with somebody so what did I do I called my husband because I wanted to tell him how I feel so I called him up and he hung up on me so okay I said then I won’t share it with him now um then I I thought then I would call my parents so I dialed the number of my parents they actually didn’t hang up on me they they picked the phone but you know they I I heard they weren’t alone so they were with somebody and they were very nice but how are you what’s what’s up and so on and so I thought it was in the moment that I can really sincerely speak with them so I just said something something and then then I hung up and I was there okay again I cannot share it and so I I dialed my best friend and she didn’t answer so I was there okay three trials and of course I could have called many more but then then I realized that I’m actually not alone I mean I am there with the gods with whom I can always share my thoughts my feelings my concerts and from whom I can always gets guidance and from that moment on that has been my experience in the last 10 months

the second one is is uh is happened just last end of last year I go I I’m quite committed to to build our international relations so I I travel quite a lot uh inter I’m internationally really very active and and uh in in December as far as I remember I wanted to visit our troops because I am also the chief commander of the army I wanted to visit our troops in Iraq because there are Hungarian soldiers who serve in Iraq so I I thought I should go and see them so I I I I said I I would go to Iraq everybody was very concerned you know it’s not the safety safe place but still and then I first went to Baghdad and then I went to air bill which is I don’t know how familiar you are with Iraq I think many of you are it means that there is a curd region and there is the other part of Iraq and the that’s in the kurd region actually are real that’s like say the capital of the kurd region and um and in the kurd region uh the Isis used to be very present and and uh and it is not very safe in our ability is but like in in the countryside it isn’t but we have some very nice programs because Hungary feels responsible for the Christians all around the world and being not a big country still we feel devoted to protect the persecuted Christians all around the world that means that we have a strong program for the protection of the persecuted Christians and we have even there in Iraq in the countryside in different little Villages programs which are completely financed by the Hungarian state so that means that we build their schools we build their different buildings for the for the local communities and I wanted to see them and I wanted to see the local Christian communities I wanted to see all these projects that Hungary is actually financing so that’s that so I said that I would go to talskov and alcoch these are the two little Villages where we are present and everybody discouraged me from that because they said it really was dangerous so they said that it is really truly is isn’t a good idea to go there but I said that uh okay I will I will think it over and what did I do again that day I I looked up the Bible but for the reading of that day and what was the reading of that day Jonah First Book of Jonah and saying go to the great city of Nineveh and I was there you know Indonesia planes and I said like well okay I got it so most of the time you don’t get that direct messages I’m telling you at least I don’t so you should be really privileged to get that direct message but I I consider this as a direct message and I’m here I I am still alive so that proved to be a good idea and the when I when I really did believe that it was okay there were like 200 or even more soldiers just looking after me uh so it was I I understood it really it was dangerous but it was so inspiring to see these small Christian communities there being proud of sharing this experience with me the president of the country which helped them in this very difficult situation and I feel really responsible for the Christian persecuted Christians all around the world because that is a phenomenon that no not too many are aware of at least in Hungary that now the most persecuted members of the religious community are the Christians and we are responsible for our brothers and sisters who are Christians no matter where they live and uh and that is why I went there and I just realized how how dangerous it was when I had the dinner afterwards with the current president and then he was like totally relaxed at night and he said he was so anxious during the whole day that he he was sent every SEC every 20 minutes he was sent a message that I’m still alive so it was like really it was really dangerous but I got the message and and I I felt that that was the thing that I had to do and that’s what I did actually and then the third example I I thought I would bring to you is that uh I have I have quite unique experience pieces of experience actually with with other Leaders with other presidents without naming them uh sometimes all of a sudden or very unexpectedly it just turns out that they are also Christian Believers I remember just not late not to to long ago uh having a an official visit somewhere and having a dinner with the president there and you know it I thought it would be a dinner just as usually and like you know the general discussion about our geopolitic challenges and so on and and then all of a sudden I don’t know even how but we started to to speak about our faith and our our strong belief and and the the whole tone of the the the the discussion just changed from one minute to the other and and then you realize that you are not alone in that sense either that there are also leaders in the world who you might not even know but they are also sent by our Lords in order to serve him and that is just so great to realize that you are not alone in no matter which position you are and that goes for you as well that then you will realize that I am sure uh from time to time that you meet people and you realize that that is your common faith that brings you so close to each other and that change is actually everything and I remember when I I met some president who I don’t name publicly either but I knew that he was a devoted Christian himself and we had not not very easy relations back then our two countries so I thought it would be a very very difficult discussion that was the first time that we were sitting uh eye to eye to each other the only the two of us and he wanted to to to you know to start with I don’t know our hard discussions and and and to to jump in to it and then I said stop now let’s pray together and he was very shocked he was like oh pray I mean that’s not usually what you do when when politicians or presidents meet but but it was really just for a second and then he said yeah okay fine and so we prayed both on our language our Lord together and and it was it was like it really did change everything I mean from from that moment on we knew that we were not only to the two of us in the room and it it just changed the whole tone and I think that we should consider that for for us leaders all around the world sometimes or even always if we started our discussions with a common prayer I think the the world wouldn’t be where it is right now I’m sure about that and I would suggest that but I’m not sure that many would accept this suggestion uh and the last step but not least what I would like to uh to share with you I decided uh long ago that uh if I I I have the chance I will speak some I’ve say something about uh the importance my for me personally the importance of family and not just saying you know a phrase just that our kids are the the greatest joy of our lives but I remember when I was a teenager I I read an interview with a Hollywood star a woman Hollywood star and she was beautiful she was very pretty she was very famous of course very very very successful and Oscar price holder and so on so she really uh she really she really was great and I I remember reading this interview with her and reading that she was not only great in her profession but she was also a great mother and she just said that I don’t know she made the costumes for her kids herself and she sued it and and I I just felt so bad because I thought that well that’s impossible I mean I would never get there and I would never be able to to do that to to be for so good in my profession and also so good in my personal life being a very good man and then I decided I don’t know why I thought being a teenager that anybody would be interested in how I feel about that later on but I I thought that if ever somebody would be interested in how I feel at that stance then I would always be very sincere saying that it is not easy so though I am not saying that it is easy to to raise three kids and and to fulfill a a a job that is that requires responsibility but uh but it’s worth it and and I remember how difficult it was even to take this decision about childbearing at that age and in our 20s with my husband it wasn’t that evident that we just I just keep my job and and I was there finally earning money and being in any position I just wanted to work I just wanted to to prove that I am also capable that that now I will also deliver and and then to say that now I quit and I and I will just go and be at home with the with the kids and and give birth that wasn’t easy at all and uh and I’m so happy that I and we together with my husband made this decision not once but three times and the what I’m I’m saying without uh telling anybody how to live and which decisions to meet it’s completely up to you I would never have any say on that but just my personal conviction is and my personal experience is that uh it’s not worth missing on having children and it’s not worth missing and having a family and and you have a given period of time when you can do it and it will fade away and you can never catch it again you can always catch on your professional career uh you will always have the chance later on but never on the children never run the family and uh and for me that is uh I I just cannot imagine my life without having our children so for me personally that is that really is something that I am the most proud of that and that the most thankful for that we have these three children and I I I I never heard this message uh and not from a woman president from sure when I was in my teenage years and uh and I I decided that I would always share it with the younger members of the younger generation if they are ready to listen to me at all thank you for thank you that you were ready to listen to me and I’m very thankful that I had a joy and the chance to be here together with you and I would just like to encourage you that never give up on your convictions never give up on your strong faith and just believe me that if you stick to that if you are strong on that then you will be much more able to accomplish no matter what you dream of rather than if you just give it away or to give up on it thank you so much for your attention [Applause] we are so grateful today to be able to hear the president of Hungary powerful testimony to us today I would like to now invite Dr Agnes Berkey and her niece Miss Panna Lucha to come forward with gifts both Dr Berkey and Pana are Hungarian natives Dr Burkey is now an ordinary professor of biology at Ave Maria University while her niece Pana is a student here at AMU studying biology [Applause]

[Applause]

thank you [Applause] Madame President Novak would now like to take some questions from our AMU students if you would like to ask a question please go forward to the microphone at this time when you ask your question please state your name your year and your question clearly again in the interest of the time I would like to reiterate that this is for students only thank you so much [Applause]

wow

[Applause]

very good pronunciation my name is Claudia Bihar husic I’m from Ave Maria School of Law I’m in my last year and I’m the president of women’s law association and I wanted to ask you so last August you met with Pope Francis and some of what you discussed included the challenge of living out your faith as a public figure so I wanted to know how you and how other women can bring a unique perspective to this idea of Christian leadership

thank you um should I reply from one by one yeah okay so first of all it was for me a great privilege to to be on a personal audience with uh Pope Francis and then that again was so interesting because he speaks Italian and Spanish and so we we wanted to use an intro prep because I thought it would be easier and at the very last moment I just had some some feeling that no no I just don’t need the interpret I will just use my not too good Spanish and and and that I did and it was it was great because we really had a long discussion Tata Ted with the with the Holy Father and it was really inspiring and he also spoke about the importance of having having strong women leaders he is very supportive of that and I think that’s a what just one thing I I would underline being a woman leader is that I think we should never give up on being real women because men me

many times I feel you know that that women get into a leading position and then they start to behave as man and that was the point in that so it’s a and I think we we mean we have our methods to to Really cope well with our counterparts and uh and I that that would be my I mean it’s uh it goes not only for politics but for for everything but in politics for sure if you’re a woman leader then never give up on being a real woman that’s that would be my only comment to that thank you thank you so much thank you

for being here my name is Megan Magyar Hare I’m a first year part-time doctoral student in our theology program you touched on this a little bit in your talk in your life as an accomplished professional wife mother how have you navigated using your gifts and talents with this responsibilities of family life the current world view strongly suggests that women can’t do both so what advice would you give to women young women in particular who desire both

um because I spoke about that yes a bit I will just be again very personal and it’s between you and me

that’s a it sometimes it varies difficult because uh the the carrier the prior professional life can really take you and uh and one five and a half years ago actually I was in that situation my career started to to just go up I actually went went back to to the labor market just in 2010 so it was just 12 years or 30 almost 13 years ago after the child pairing so it my career was quite fast and uh and it just five and a half years ago my our our daughter wasn’t feeling very well and then we didn’t know what what was wrong with her and then after uh having uh I mean going to the hospital it turned out the same day that she’s got type 1 diabetes and um it is I don’t know how much familiar you are with type 1 diabetes it’s quite tough to live with it and it’s a the bad thing about it among others is that once you got the diagnosis then from that day on or that moment on your life completely changes so you cannot just say that okay thank you I just go home I will recover and in two weeks we come back and then we will understand how to move forward but we I had to stay with her at the hospital my husband actually was in the United States for a week so I was alone with the three kids and then I got this diagnosis and uh and and it completely uh it was it was like really a shock and and and and and then during I was there I just got a call from the the Prime Minister just as he wanted to see me which was like you know a big hit back then that he wanted to see me personally and and he he offered me a very important position and uh and I I remember that I was just I just understood that that it’s not the most important part of my life that uh I have to be on on the side of my daughter and uh and I was even ready to give up my whole professional career if needed and uh and I am I am really thankful that I for for quite a long time I I didn’t understand what the reason for this uh illness was and you always look for the reasons why it happened and not what for it happened and when I asked myself what for it happened it just actually shook me and and and made me so clear where my real job was and that’s uh the only place I am Irreplaceable is in my family no other place so that just drove me to to that and I think that maybe God has already sent me strong messages before I didn’t get them I didn’t understand them so she he really had to send me a very strong message which he did and and ever since I am so thankful that that I got this so just I’m I’m saying that sometimes it is not so easy to understand that where you’re you are the most needed and the most important thank you [Applause] thank you madam president for speaking to us today my name is Joshua Ray I’m a freshman politics major here at avemer University and my question to you is this as a Christian leader in an increasingly secular world how do you reconcile modern Notions of Freedom with your responsibility to further the common good and what are some of the Practical methods you employ to promote a Christian vision of society um so first of all being Christian is being matter uh and the many thing that it’s not and I think I mean I am a modern Christian woman but I am a modern woman it’s a being modern it means that you give answers to the challenges of nowadays life and you give challenge you give answers in a modern way but you also can differentiate between what is eternal and what is not and that is that comes from my faith from my my uh conviction and uh in practice uh what what do I suggest pray don’t forget to pray on a daily basis if you do so I I catch myself sometimes that I forget to pray before something important and then I later on realized that I really made a serious mistake and not asking for it for any guidance from him so I I the most important that never believe that you don’t need the prayer anymore that’s it thank you

thank you for speaking uh with US president Novak my question is uh Pope Benedict the 16th says we were not made for Comfort we were made for greatness and as someone who has achieved greatness and is leading to people towards God was there ever a moment in your life in your political career where you doubted the existence of God and if so how did you overcome those thoughts

um the existence no honestly never but but sometimes it is very uh difficult to understand his will and there I have sometimes troubles there I have sometimes difficulties that I really I really I’m not sure if I do understand it correctly and uh and uh and how how do we do I overcome it is that for example I take part in a small community every second week we we get together and we read the Bible together and we speak about it and and we pray together and that is for me for example very important in in decisive moments also of my life I got a very important feedback from the members of the community because it’s not that God will directly speak to me and sometimes reading the Bible I just Envy those with who who had really a direct contact with him and had these direct instructions which we don’t but but it’s through people and uh and it’s just I I I I stick to the same people as I used to before and through these people comes also the guidance so my my I I never doubted his existence but uh I mean during this time but uh but but I I sometimes I don’t get the messages right thank you

thank you for speaking with US president Novak I’m Maria telfhees I’m a freshman pre-nursing student and

and my question to you is is there a theological reason why you haven’t outlawed abortion yet or why is it still allowed despite what the Constitution says about the human person is God saying you to sing to you to wait because there’s a potential you might get assassinated in your need to do more of God’s work currently living right now or am I misunderstanding something you are not misunderstanding anything it’s a I would say that the legislation in Hungary which was introduced long ago about abortion it’s at the lowest abortion so it doesn’t matter abortion and I would say that it’s not that as strict that strict uh legislation either there is uh that that is a very uh even that is a very complex question even if it seems simple in Hungary there were times not so long ago when there were not only more abortions a year than birth but way more abortions than births so there are now also many women and families who went through abortion because of the lack of knowledge because of the the bad era that we lived in we lived 40 years under communism and uh and there there was not a real knowledge about the importance of life life so many chose this way and it’s not that easy to punish anybody or to to to just uh manage this through the legislation so it’s a very strong legislation I what I am working on personally as well uh is that we have to teach about the importance of Life at a very young age so we have to start with the children we have to make them understand how precious human life is and May and and and that will go that with time that I think which is which which already shows the importance and significance of these decisions uh that’s uh the abortion rate dropped to the third it just means that it is actually working so I don’t think that it’s through an hour very rigorous legislation but it’s through the real teaching and the importance of human life so that’s what we uh emphasize in Hungary thank you

thank you again for speaking um my name is Jaden scheidel I’m a freshman here at Ave Maria um so not as serious of a follow-up question um but after hearing what you were saying about your country and stuff it sounds like an amazing place to not only live but to visit um I would love to it sounds amazing um but so as the president and the leader of this country is there like a destination that you would say that if I was going to visit your country I would need to see this place okay yes well definitely our Capital Budapest it’s a it’s a great place and if if you like to party as well we are very good in festivals so is summer festivals we have gorgeous summer festivals all around the country but if you come to Hungary just take some time so really just don’t just you know come to Europe and travel all around and visit all the cities it’s not worth see everything it’s a but it really does risk to come to Hungary and I think what you will you can really also enjoy it’s not only the that we have great pubs and restaurants all over which are open until very very early I would say not late that so you can really also party there but but it’s also that we have the historic buildings and the historic landscape just because of our long history we really have beautiful historic monuments and and also cultural venues of course also to to discover living in Florida I am not suggesting you to visit our Lake volaton which is the biggest lake of Europe but it’s uh not I mean compared to your Seashore uh I I had the chance to see so maybe maybe it won’t be so attractive to you but the Hungarian landscape all you know it’s very beautiful come to Budapest thank you so much thank you

Madam president thank you for the gift of your time coming here today my name is Stone Fritz I’m a senior here at this University and this is my question to you you spoke of the freedom that hungarians enjoy in thinking speaking and in being how do you think that the study of the liberal arts at places like Ave Maria helped to create this freedom and free societies

to to to have this real freedom and I see the bills being passed here in Florida as well about that and all these discussions which is happening and I see this as a positive example because I think that there are I just heard that your gov I just met your Governor the day before yesterday and also listening to his speech state of the states speech where he said that we need high level education at not ideological indoctrination I just completely agree with him so I think that is a great sentence which I completely share so I think that what we need actually is a high level education at night ideological indoctrination so I I think what we have to let you choose what you want to study and that’s indoor create you in any sense that’s it thank you

thank you Madame President my name is Anna Hunsinger and I’m a sophomore here at Amu my question is how was your time here in Florida and at our University been so far and what prompted you to visit our small community well uh so first uh I loved it here it was really really great um and uh I don’t know if you knew that for example the richest Hungarian person lives actually in Florida and I also met him yesterday and and not interesting people and so beautiful places and I even held a baby alligator which is which was a great experience as well so I tried to discover a little bit your your the beauties of your state and and I see that you have stronger leadership as well here in Florida and the reason why I actually came here to the university and thank you to Christian also for for this idea is that I I see that most of the uh leaders presidents Prime Ministers they don’t really go to universities which are not the best known and or mostly known biggest largest universities in the world but the reason why I’m here because I wanted to see you I wanted to to to to Really share this couple of hours with you and I wanted to encourage you because you are our future actually and the Future Leaders comes come from from you and I I think that you also needs to need might need this encouragement that that you should no matter what what your field will be no matter what you will do in your life but we actually do need you as Future Leaders in your field and I wanted to encourage you and that’s all that’s that’s what brought me here and thank you for the opportunity thank you

all right and uh just in the interests of time Madame President can take one further question thank you madam president uh my name is John cerullo I am a politics major and I’m a sophomore here my question is as a former like communist country how did Hungary maintain its Christian faith under the you know throughout the 50 years of Soviet influence that was actually 40 years so it was quite bad and very long and I was born in the communism still born in 1977 so long ago last century but it was still the Communist era and uh and it had very very bad and strong and long-term consequences as well so we were raised still in an era where you you could you had to hide your face you couldn’t confess it publicly at all so you you I was baptized in the home of my uh my grandparents secretly because you couldn’t do that publicly and and you couldn’t attend the mass you couldn’t go to church it’s uh it was like that so it’s a or if you did then you risked of you know having consequences um and and the long-term consequence still is that there was uh not only one but at least two generation raised with without this everyday experience of living in a faithful Community or experiencing the beauties of of leaving our faith together and publicly which is also important so we are still suffering from that and what we can do and what we are doing is is again to to concentrate on the future generations and the children and and I see a positive change and I see that now more and more kids also attend church schools I have to tell you that in Hungary even the church schools are free so they so you can attend the church schools free of charge where they are also financed and many students and families choose these Church schools and so they they not now they start to educate their parents and I just very much hope that it will drive change in what the further Generations but it takes time and you know it is is very very easy to destroy something but it’s very difficult to build or rebuild something that’s what we’ve been working on for more than a decade and that’s what we have to still work on for for a long time you’ve been doing a great job thank you so much thank you

thank you all so much for coming today I will now invite president Mark Middendorf on stage for a few closing comments

[Applause] well for those of you that do want to visit Hungary we had the great honor earlier today to me and we have with us also uh the U.S Hungarian Ambassador and we have a study abroad program in Rome and Rome is not a very long trip to Hungary and so we were talking about what we could do to maybe have a long weekend we could take the students that are doing the study abroad and make a a short trip over the weekend to Hungary so if uh if you haven’t signed up for the study abroad Alex harsh I see there I would be happy to share more about that with you so uh with that why don’t we uh close with a prayer name of the father son holy spirit amen

dear Lord we ask for your special blessing and president Novak in her presidency her travels her family

we ask that you inspire her to accomplish your will in all things and we consecrate the rest of this trip and her visit today to your Blessed Mother under her mantle of protection maybe we could all pray on her behalf and for her intentions Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen Saint Stephen of Hungary pray for us name of the father son holy spirit amen so one of the things we gave Madam president as a gift we is the image of Divine Mercy that we have in all the classrooms in the dorm rooms and uh and we also gave her one of the Bible in a years that many of you here are uh doing daily so even though some of you will not get a chance to meet her personally maybe in your prayers you will meet God bless you all [Applause] [Music]

what

[Music] foreign

[Music]

thank you [Music]