Our colleagues were honoured with the Blessed Charles Award

In honour and memory of the former monarch, the Golden Cross of Merit was established on the initiative of Gusztáv Hittig, the then President of the Hungarian Branch of the Emperor Karl League of Prayers, who is also closely connected to our Foundation. The award is given to persons who, “through their community activities and work, contribute to the promotion of the respect for Emperor and King Charles and the social values he embodies”. Twenty years later, on 6 October 2024, twenty-two people, including several friends of our Foundation and two of our colleagues, Eszter Kardonné Fábry and Gergely Fejérdy, received a renewed semi-miniature version of this medal, renamed as the Blessed Charles Award.

The event took place in the ceremonial hall of the Episcopal Palace of Szombathely, right next to the suite where King Charles IV stayed between 27 March and 5 April 1921, during his first return to Hungary. The bedroom, which was open to the public on this occasion, contains a guest book signed by the last Hungarian monarch, as well as several objects that were there during his time. The suite faithfully preserves the memory of the special guest who stayed there one hundred and three years ago at Easter.

At the ceremony held in Szombathely, Bishop János Székely and Gergely Kovács, the current President of the Hungarian Branch of the Emperor Karl League of Prayers, gave speeches and presented the award. Among other things, both speakers stressed that receiving the awards in the spirit of the former monarch can encourage the passing on of the values he considered important and the performance of community service. In this spirit, one of the most important messages of Blessed Charles’s life, as expressed by Otto von Habsburg on the fiftieth anniversary of his father’s death, can be recalled: When a man gets into the presence of his Creator, in front of Him, all that matters is the fulfilment of duties and goodwill. God does not ask people to bring Him reports of victories. He grants the success. He only expects us to give our utmost.”