Hungary Taking This Major Step to Help Persecuted Christians

Hungary is setting up a special department to coordinate the assistance and rescue of persecuted Christians worldwide.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that the huge influx of Muslim refugees threatens Christian identity in Eastern Europe and his chief of staff, Janos Lazar, said it's imperative that governments in the region take action to protect Christians.

Lazar added that the new department within the Ministry of Human Resources was inspired by a trip the prime minister took to Rome at the end of August. 

Lazar said the meeting between the prime minister, Pope Francis, and Middle Eastern patriarchs made clear "there would be a great need for European government organizations to take this issue more seriously."

"Hungary has been silently working in the Middle East for years in the danger spots," Eduard von Habsburg, the ambassador of Hungary to the Holy See, told "The Crux," a Catholic publication. 

"This is the prolongation of a policy that's been in place for a long time," he added. 

The Hungarian department was given 3 million euros to help Christians worldwide, the National Catholic Register (NC) reports.

One million euros has already been released to the department to begin to monitor, analyze and obtain information about Christians facing persecution. 

The funds will also allow high level government officials to visit highly persecuted regions. 

The new 10-person office will help organize and distribute international aid when private and nonprofit groups cannot provide assistance.