Pope Francis has awarded Dániel Solymári, director of international relations at the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, the Knight Cross of the Order of Saint Sylvestre.
According to MTI, Solymári was presented with the award, the oldest decoration the Holy See bestows on secular individuals, by Cardinal Péter Erdő, the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, and Youssef Absi, the patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, at the Primate’s Palace in Budapest on Friday. He received the honor in recognition of his work concerning the international relations of the pontiff and the Holy See, mainly in the areas of international aid and humanitarian diplomacy.
The charity noted that the Knight Cross of the Order of Saint Sylvestre was among the most rarely bestowed decorations, having been given to less than ten Hungarian citizens, according to records available since 1945.