Oblate brother David MacPhee spoke with Christopher Adam about his work this past summer in East Hastings, Vancouver, and about how to simply serve the abandoned and marginalized with radical hospitality and without judging or expecting grandiose miracles. East Hastings has long struggled with poverty, drug addiction and other social problems. How did working in this environment help you develop as a Catholic? Just walking through that area leaves an impression; drug usage is very present, as well as mental illness and prostitution. Working in East Hastings really brought alive the mission of the Oblates; of serving the poor and the most [...]

Charlie Taylor’s political views might not fit well into the traditional left or right-wing political camps, but the mayoral candidate in Ottawa’s upcoming municipal election does have sustainability on his mind. The 33 year old Carleton University journalism student spoke with the Canadian Hungarian Journal as the municipal election campaign heats up. Taylor has visited 45 countries and travelled to Budapest and Lake Balaton in Hungary on two occasions, including once during a hitchhiking adventure from Turkey to Austria. Charlie Taylor sat down with the Canadian Hungarian Journal’s Christopher Adam to talk about his passion, goals and ambition during this election campaign. As [...]

Perhaps Bishop Richard Lennon is in need of a reminder that we live in a post-Vatican II world, where aloof church leaders can no longer expect parishioners, the laity and local priests to quietly toe the line, whenever the upper echelons of the Church hierarchy enact wildly unpopular decisions above their heads, without any meaningful consultation. Perhaps Cleveland’s Bishop Lennon will awaken from his 1950′s reverie, when he arrives on the doorsteps of the 105 year old St. Emeric Church this Sunday in order to ceremoniously pull the rug out from under the Hungarian community. Perhaps he will find himself [...]

On 17-20 June 2010 the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund’s Endowment Council is sponsoring a weekend-long symposium in Kingston, Ontario at Queen’s University (Donald Gordon Centre), bringing together some 50 community activists, scholars, archivists, museum curators, internee descendants and artists to develop initiatives that will commemorate and educate all Canadians about what happened during Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914-1920. The event will conclude with a memorial service at Fort Henry, Canada’s first permanent internment camp, on Sunday, 11h00, with wreaths being laid by conference participants and diplomats representing a number of the countries from where the [...]

The University of Manitoba in Winnipeg will offer an introductory Hungarian language course for the first time this coming fall. The one-semester course is for beginners, and no previous Hungarian required. As part of the exchange agreement between the University of Manitoba and the University of Szeged, a highly recommended instructor in the advanced stages of the M.A. in Teaching Hungarian as a Foreign Language at Szeged will come and teach the course. For the course to be a success, adequate student enrollment is needed. If there is clear interest in the course, Manitoba will offer it again in the future and [...]

Wife of the late Ferenc Oszlanszky, our beloved mother, grandmother, sister and friend passed away at Montreal’s Sacré Coeur Hospital with her family by her side. Her great courage, generosity, amazing humour, even in the face of adversity, and her many talents will never be forgotten. In accordance with her wishes, cremation took place and a private burial will be held at a later date. We are most grateful for the care and compassion shown to her during her final weeks in the hospital. She will be deeply missed by her family and friends in Canada and in Hungary. “No [...]

Barbara Doman (Borika) passed away peacefully at St. Mary’s Hospital on March 1, 2010. She earned her teacher’s diploma in Hungary and worked for several years in Szecseny, her native town. Later, in Montreal, she taught and inspired countless students at the Hungarian Saturday School. She has been, for the last forty years, a committed and benevolent member of the Montreal Hungarian community who will be forever grateful for her contributions. She is mourned by her cousins and other relatives in Hungary. She will be deeply missed by the many members of the Montreal Hungarian community whose lives she has touched with her kindness and generous heart.

After having been privatized for the second time in 2007, Malév Hungarian Airlines will be nationalized this spring, with the Republic of Hungary gaining a 95 percent majority of stakes in the flag carrier. Russia’s Vnyesekonombank and representatives of the Hungarian government have been negotiating for several months on how to resolve the indebted carrier’s fate, especially after it became clear that the Russian interests that had controlled the company after its privatization three years ago wanted out. According to this agreement, Malév’s outstanding debt to the Hungarian state will be converted into shares, while Hungary will pump an additional 25.2 billion forints into the carrier.

Sergeant George Miok, a 28 year old reservist in the Canadian forces, died in Afghanistan on December 28th when the armoured vehicle he was in was blown up by a roadside bomb. Three other Canadian soldiers and a journalist from the Calgary Herald died with him. This was Sgt Miok’s second tour of duty in Afghanistan and all obituaries about him mention his strong belief in the value of what he was doing for his country and for world peace. Also mentioned is his love of teaching and the high regard in which he was held by students at St Cecilia Junior High in Edmonton where he taught last year. The Edmonton Journal published a letter George wrote to St Cecilia Junior High for Remembrance Day this past November: George’s Letter.

Sgt Miok was born in Canada to Hungarian parents and he participated in many events of the Hungarian community in Edmonton, including a Hungarian dance group.

Hungarian director Ferenc Török’s most recent film, entitled Overnight, was screened in Ottawa this evening, as part of the European Film Festival. The Library and Archive Canada’s auditorium was packed for the screening–organized in partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary in Ottawa–with a mix of Hungarians, English-speaking Canadians with a keen interest in foreign films and other Eastern Europeans, who will see films in their own languages shown in upcoming nights. (A Polish film entitled Little Moscow and directed by Waldemar Krzystek will be screened on 3 December 2009 at 9:00pm.) Overnight portrays 21st century contemporary, urban and multicultural Hungary.

Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai gave an interview today to CNBC and spoke at length about how Hungary averted a financial meltdown in late 2008. CNBC spoke with Bajnai, the country’s interim centre-left prime minister, on Kossuth Square, right outside Parliament. The network’s reporter opened the interview by noting that the crisis in Hungary peaked just over a year ago, when interest rates rose to as high as 11 percent and when the former economic power-house of Central Europe had to turn to the International Monetary Fund, in order to obtain a $25 billion loan. At the time, Bajnai served as Hungary’s economy minister, but ascended to the prime ministership following the sudden resignation of his Socialist predecessor, Ferenc Gyurcsány, this past spring.

A new website entitled Visegrad-4 was launched earlier this week and it aims to serve as an independent English-language news source for Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The site notes that these East/Central European states share a common historical heritage, each of them having been impacted by pre-World War I empires, Soviet influence and a dramatic transition to democracy and free market economy in 1989. Twenty years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the re-introduction of multi-party democracy, the member states of the Visegrad Group should aim for greater cooperation and alignment of policies when negotiating with other [...]

A power failure Saturday evening at Budapest Ferihegy Airport’s Terminal 2A resulted in scores of delayed flights, as authorities attempted to evacuate passengers from the building and transfer all flights and bags to Terminal 2B, located right next door. The electricity went out at 8pm local time and power will likely only be restored Sunday morning. According to Budapest Airport Zrt. spokesperson Mihály Hardy, problems with two 110 kilowatt cables caused the power outage. As such, all baggage reclaim machines are out of order, as are all automatic doors in the terminal. Terminal 2B, however, is not experiencing any of [...]

Christopher Adam According to a press release circulated minutes before midnight (Central European Time) on 31 August 2009, SkyEurope has formally declared itself bankrupt and has canceled all of its flights. Bratislava’s Letisko M.R. Stefánik’s airport’s website now lists all of the Slovak discount carriers flights as canceled and SkyEurope’s own website carries a message informing passengers that the company has suspended all operations. Further, the vast majority of passengers will not be eligible for a refund, if they have already purchased a ticket for a SkyEurope flight. What can you do if you bought a ticket with SkyEurope for [...]

Christopher Adam SkyEurope has stranded more than 1,200 passengers at Bratislava’s Letisko-M.R. Stefánik Airport earlier today, when it decided to cancel all of its afternoon and evening flights without any warning. As we reported earlier today, as well as last week, SkyEurope teeters on collapse, as airports in Vienna and Prague have decided to ban the carrier due to outstanding debts. Bratislava Airport’s spokesperson, Zuzana Hornanova, told journalists that SkyEurope canceled all of its flights due to “operational reasons.” Hornanova described the situation as “complicated.” The airline has yet to issue a statement, even though SkyEurope is now effectively grounded. [...]