Serbia – Award for Salesian Fr Stojan Kalapiš
Mužlja, Serbia - 12 January 2018 - The Hungarian Cultural Federation of Vojvodina awarded "The Hungarian Tree of Life" to Fr Stojan Kalapiš, Director of the Salesian Youth Institute "Emmaus" of Mužlja, Serbia. The Salesian community, which belongs to the Province of Slovenia, animates the parish and boarding school for young people attending vocational schools in the nearby town of Zrenjanin, in the heart of the Vojvodina region. The young are of various nationalities, the Hungarians being the largest. In the great economic and social poverty of this area of the former Yugoslavia, Fr. Kalapiš and the Salesian community continue to carry out the mission of welcoming and accompanying young people. The educational work and the promotion of Hungarian culture among the minority was also acknowledged by the Hungarian state: the Secretary of the Hungary's Ministry of Culture thanked the Salesian community and emphasized the importance of a strong Christian and cultural identity for young Hungarians living abroad.