And according to Kocsis, the pope got a kick out of it.
“He’s very open, and he loved it. I asked him if I could put the cap on him, and he said ‘Oh, yes, of course,’” he said, adding that the pope “likes his jokes.”
“Some people were very, very angry at me because they thought it wasn’t appropriate to give a cap to the Holy Father,” Kocsis said.
“I did it because I am trying to reach people who are far from the Church, but might enjoy seeing the pope and how he loves to joke,” he said.
The Hungarian archbishop said he is always looking for ways to evangelize. Hungary, Kocsis told CNA, has not escaped the secularization that has swept across the West, and he says he is making “every effort” to ensure that what has happened to other churches does not happen to the Hungarian Greek Catholic Church.
Despite being a priest and a monk, Kocsis is savvy when it comes to social media.
“That’s where the young people are, and that’s where we have to be,” he told CNA.
Hungarian Greek Catholics, who follow the Byzantine liturgical rite, today number about 300,000 in a country with a population of 9.7 million. According to Kocsis, while they aren’t flocking to his Church in great numbers, many young people find his Church’s adherence to tradition attractive because they see that it is “authentic.”
“Our church is a traditional church. We have the traditional vestments, traditional celebrations. It’s very strict, it’s long, and there’s singing. And you might think that would not be something young people would like. But we’re seeing that they are interested in this, in spite of all of the difficulties.”
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“There’s a debate inside our Church: ‘What is the best way to reach young people? To get rid of our strict traditions or to keep them and present them to them in a modern way?“ he told CNA.
The viral videos and photos, he explained, are a tool to do just that.
“I believe that being strict, and adhering to tradition can reach the people of today, but we have to find the right method. So, I ride a motorcycle and scooter and we try to have a presence in the digital world,” he said.
“It’s very important that the Church has to be demanding. And that has been a question in the Synod as well. The pope has said we have to be open, to enlarge the tent, so no one feels outside of the Church. But on the other hand, Christ demands a lot of us. That’s the topic of the Synod: ‘How can we harmonize this?’”
As the Synod draws to a close, Kocsis said he is looking forward to getting back to Hungary — and to practicing the synodal method, which he describes as “an attitude of listening” to others.
“If we could spread this attitude in the church it could really help believers become more open to others and to God,” he said.