Vitézi Rend

Vitézi Rend

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The Order of Vitéz Participated in a Traditional Joy Archery Competition

May 27, 2025

Author: Vitéz Zoltán József Molnár Seat Captain

On May 17, 2025, the “Traditional Joy Archery Competition” was held, organized by the Tass Clan’s Traditionalist Gégényi Archery Association with the support of the Order of Vitéz’s Seat Captaincy of Northeast Hungary Region. Children who registered for the archery competition were rewarded by the Order of Vitéz’s Captaincy of Northeast Hungary Region with commemorative certificates and gift books. This gesture aims to motivate children to continue participating in such events. The knowledge and preservation of the past are essential conditions for the survival and identity of the Hungarian people. In today’s world, fostering national consciousness and patriotic education is of great importance. During the competition, all participants and spectators alike could feel as though they were among our conquering ancestors. Under the leadership of Vitéz Zoltán Varga and the president of the Tass Clan’s Traditionalist Gégényi Archery Association, a fragment of our glorious past was brought back to life. We extend our heartfelt thanks for their work.

We Stand by Our Staff Captain of Italian Region

May 26, 2025

The Order of Vitéz disassociates itself from all base and false statements made anonymously against our Staff Captain of Italian Region, Dr. Vitéz Count Chev. Pier Felice degli Uberti, President of the ICOC, as well as any such statements that may be made in the future. In this matter, our Staff Captain has our full support.

Visit to Prague with Friends

May 5, 2025

From April 24 to 27, 2025, a splendid weekend took place in Prague, during the cultural events of the prestigious Prague-based Mezinárodní Akademie Koruny Svatého Václava (International Academy of the Crown of Saint Wenceslaus), renowned for its commitment to European Christian values, the preservation of the historical traditions of the Czech Crown, and the dissemination of knowledge in fields such as history, heraldry, vexillology, and chivalric orders.

On April 25, 2025, a visit to the Prague Archbishop’s Palace was held to meet His Eminence Cardinal Dominik Jaroslav Duka, O.P., Archbishop Emeritus of Prague. In the evening, a concert took place at the headquarters of the International Academy of the Crown of Saint Wenceslaus, where the president, Hon. Prof. Dr. Antonin Stanek – former Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic – appointed Dr. Berniczei-Roykó Ádám and Dr. Pier Felice Uberti as honorary academicians.

On April 26, 2025, the annual academic assembly of the International Academy of Saint Wenceslaus was held, during which the president, Hon. Antonin Stanek, presented the International Saint Wenceslaus Award to Dr. Berniczei-Roykó Ádám for his dedicated work in support of Central European culture and various charitable social activities, and to Dr. Pier Felice degli Uberti for his service as president of the International Commission for Orders of Chivalry (ICOC), whose mission is to recognize legitimate orders of chivalry and award systems and to provide consultation to public and private institutions on matters related to such honours.

Source: Istituto Araldico Genealogico Italiano (Facebook)

Celebration of the 4th Annual Hungarian Heritage Festival in Washington, D.C.

April 29, 2025

Author: Vitéz Jacob Madway Bressmann

On April 26, in McLean, Virginia of the greater Washington, D.C. area, the Kossuth Foundation hosted the fourth annual all-day Hungarian Heritage Festival, featuring performances by Hungarian folk music groups.

As with previous years, the Hungarian Embassy and many diaspora organizations, including the Vitézi Rend, were present to celebrate our shared pride in Hungarian culture, music, cuisine, and art.

Each year, the festival welcomes approximately one thousand visitors from across the East Coast of the United States. As more and more Americans become interested in Hungarian culture, and as greater numbers of Americans re-discover their Hungarian roots and ancestry, the festival serves as a beacon for the Hungarian community in the Nation’s Capital region of the United States.

Vitéz Jacob Madway Bressmann, the Order’s new Washington Area Lieutenant, represented the Order at this year’s festival and hosted a booth to share more information about the Order, its mission, and good works. Representation at the festival is part of a greater endeavor to reinvigorate the presence of the Vitézi Rend in North America, with plans for future partnerships with other Hungarian organizations of shared values in the works. It is our hope to have future events in North America, and to help others in the region to discover the Order and embrace our efforts to advance the causes of Hungarian culture and patriotism around the world.

In Memory of His Holiness Pope Francis I

April 26, 2025

Crown Council of Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Crown Council extends its deep condolences to the Roman Catholic Church and its faithful around the world – and particularly to the numerous Catholic congregations in Ethiopia – for the passing last week of His Holiness Pope Francis I. Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council, has released a statement commemorating the late Pope and his legacy of peace and love.

“I had the good fortune to meet His Holiness Pope Francis in May 2021,” Prince Ermias said. “Pope Francis embodied compassion and the courage to work towards peace. His mission will live on in our own work, in our own service, in our decision to advance his values in Ethiopia and around the world.”

When Prince Ermias met with Pope Francis, it renewed a relationship between the Holy See and Ethiopia dating back many centuries. The Vatican had hosted Ethiopian pilgrims ever since the fifteenth century. A century ago, Pope Benedict XV converted a hostel for those pilgrims into the Pontifical Ethiopian College, the only seminary of its kind within Vatican walls, and a special stop on Prince Ermias’s 2021 visit. Prince Ermias’s grandfather, Emperor Haile Selassie I, met with Pope Paul VI in November 1970.

“I was honored,” Prince Ermias said, “to visit Pontifical Ethiopian College during my visit to meet Pope Francis, and I felt as if he and I represented the continuity of our respective legacies, spiritual and secular. But I understood his humanity, his love of the poor, his devotion to his calling to mean that we should not focus on memories of our past, but on building our shared future.”

Prince Ermias noted the Pope’s personal role in the search for peace and reconciliation in the Horn of Africa. “Pope Francis passionately prayed and appealed for peace and stability in South Sudan,” Prince Ermias noted. “We will never forget the moment in 2019 when His Holiness knelt and kissed the feet of South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar. We know that he also prayed for peace in Ethiopia after our meeting in 2021. In turn, we now pray that Pope Francis’s transition from mortality to immortality will lead to the restoration of peace and national cohesion in South Sudan, and that Ethiopia’s spiritual and secular leaders will follow his example in praying and working for peace on our own home.”

Prince Ermias also noted, “Pope Francis was known for concluding his audiences with one simple, powerful request: ‘Pray for me.’ And now, with hearts full of faith and memory, we do just that. He was a truly gifted, blessed and humble human being. In this world of uncertainty, fear, and violence, his wisdom will truly be missed. We will pray for his soul in unison.”