In a visit to Utah, Hungary President Katalin Novák met with members of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke to Brigham Young University students and conversed with the governor of Utah.
Novák is a strong proponent of families, and she shared that message during her time in Utah.
On Sept. 26, Novák and her staff spoke with President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring, the first and second counselors in the First Presidency respective, as well as with other leaders at Church headquarters in Salt Lake City. They presented her with a copy of the Book of Mormon, said a report on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Novák posted on social media afterward that she wanted to meet with the Church leaders while in Utah.
“Thank you for the warm welcome and the inspiring conversation,” she wrote.
Hungary’s president promotes the family and faith
Speaking at the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies on Sept. 26, Novák told students about her strong Christian faith and encouraged them to get married and have families.
She expressed her concern about the low fertility rate in many parts of the world.
“If you have no kids, we have no future, and having children is saving the world,” she said. “If you don’t have future generations, there is no reason in saving our planet.”
Novák is married and has three children, ages 20, 17 and 15. She spent time at home with them when they were young before returning to work, said the news release.
She believes her family life taught her skills to become a more flexible, tolerant and understanding leader. Novák is Hungary’s first woman president and the youngest president to take office in that country.
“Don’t be afraid of having a family. Don’t be afraid of having kids and saying yes to life,” Novák told the BYU students. “Don’t be scared that you won’t be able to fulfill your professional dreams.”
Hungary’s constitution promotes traditional marriage between a man and a woman, and the government offers strong benefits for parents who have more children.
“We have a constitution which stands for the family values,” Novák said.
She spoke the week before at the United Nations in New York City on the roles of women in society. And she told the students that her faith in Jesus Christ helps her in her role: “I realized that I’m not alone. Jesus Christ is there with me.”
Novák met with BYU President C. Shane Reese while in Provo. Then in Salt Lake City, she met with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and first lady Abby Cox at the state Capitol.
In a social media post about the meeting, Novák said she was grateful to find another pro-family ally and noted how the Coxes slogan is “strengthening families.”
“I can only agree with this, since a state is strong when its families are strong,” she wrote on Sept. 27.
The Church in Hungary
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was in the meeting at Church headquarters with Hungary’s president, as well as Elder Massimo De Feo, a General Authority Seventy who serves as president of the Church’s Europe Central Area, which includes Hungary.
Last October, Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles ministered in Hungary and spoke to missionaries and members of the Church.
Looking over the full pews and seats in the Budapest Hungary Stake center on Oct. 13, 2022, he said, “Every single person here tonight and throughout Hungary, you contribute to the establishment of Zion in Hungary.
The Church gained official recognition in 1988 in Hungary, and missionary work and Church activity have continued since then. Some 5,000 Latter-day Saints in more than 20 congregations reside in the country, according to the latest statistics from ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
A temple for Budapest, Hungary, was announced in April 2019 general conference.
Elder Hayden Wilson from American Fork, Utah — serving a full-time mission in what was then the Hungary-Romania Mission — told the Church News last October that the members in the country are some of the best people he knows.
“They are such strong believers who are waiting for a temple,” he said.
