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International Marriage as Bridge Between Cultures
Written by György Kozma, UPF-Hungary
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Budapest, Hungary—Hungarian-Filipino couples took part in a UPF event that focused on intercultural marriages.
The event took place at the Budapest Peace Embassy on March 30, 2019.
Because many Hungarians are married to Filipinos, it was very natural to talk about the value of intercultural (or cross-cultural) marriages, which the UPF co-founders have long recommended as a way to hasten the peacebuilding process.
We read aloud excerpts from the autobiography of Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, about intercultural, interracial, and interreligious marriages.
It was very interesting that we could welcome the former mayor of Gyömrő (a small city near Budapest), Levente Gyenes, who initiated group weddings in his city eight years ago. The city, which is known in Hungary as the “capital of romantics,” keeps that tradition every year with a three-day event called Romantic Holidays. We presented Mr. Gyenes with a copy of the UPF founder’s autobiography as a gift.
Maria Liza Barchet, a Filipino lady who has invested a lot of effort to help the Filipinos in Hungary integrate into this new culture, was awarded an Ambassador for Peace certificate. Mrs. Barchet, who is married to a Hungarian, has organized several interreligious and interracial events.
Among the participants were three guests from the United Nations Human Rights Council, four guests from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and two couples from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The hall was full, and even several participants had to stay outside at the door.
The UPF organizers understood that we can gain the interest of people through introducing different cultures. Through cultural events we can introduce more about the idea of One Family Under God.
The audience asked our lecturer, Leonita Zahora—who is also one of the vice presidents of UPF-Hungary—how she met her husband. She testified directly that they were matched by Rev. Moon in 1992.
After the event one of the Filipino wives told us that she was inspired to receive the Interfaith Peace Blessing at the Peace Embassy, because she had missed the chance last April.
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