Debrecen4U March 6, 2026

Municipality Transfers Ownership of Petőfi Square Building to Greek Catholic Metropolis

The document confirming the transfer was signed in the building on Thursday. The property had previously been renovated and has been used free of charge by the Church for more than a decade.

The building at 8 Petőfi Square was blessed in the spring of 2017. The Greek Catholic Church had received the property for free use from the city two years earlier, when the metropolis was established. The building, constructed in 1912 and contemporary with the first Hungarian Greek Catholic diocese, was renovated by the Church with government support and is now used as the Debrecen centre of the archdiocese and the metropolis.

Last December, the city assembly decided to transfer ownership of the property to the Greek Catholic Metropolis. The formal handover ceremony was held in the ceremonial hall of the Greek Catholic centre. The event was opened by the seminarians’ choir. The deed was signed by Archbishop-Metropolitan Fülöp Kocsis and Mayor László Papp.

“The Church is a very good steward of the building,” the city leader emphasised, praising the social role of the Greek Catholic community and noting that a decade ago Pope Francis designated Debrecen as the seat of the Greek Catholic archbishopric. “This city’s attitude towards Christianity, and the sacrifices it has made over the past centuries for the cause of Hungarian Christianity, have made Debrecen worthy and deserving of becoming the centre of the Hungarian Greek Catholic Church,” László Papp stressed.

“Gratitude, thanks and joy” — these were the words with which Fülöp Kocsis summarised his feelings and thoughts regarding the transfer of ownership of the building, which serves as the centre of the metropolia. “I believe that we are fulfilling God’s plan by having the centre of the Greek Catholic Metropolis covering the whole of Hungary located in Debrecen, and it is clearly evident that this has also benefited the city of Debrecen,” said Archbishop-Metropolitan Fülöp Kocsis.

The transfer of ownership of the property at 8 Petőfi Square will enable the Greek Catholic Church to carry out its religious duties more effectively, as well as to operate and renovate the building.

Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu