Francis visits Hungary in the name of peace and the future of Europe The Pope has a different worldview from far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán

From Rome

He Pope Francisco Leaving this Thursday Hungary During the three-day visit, he will meet political officials, the Greek-Catholic community and youth The poor, migrants and refugees from various countries, Especially from UkraineMore than five million people have fled War with RussiaCommenced in February 2022.

This is Francisco’s 41st foreign trip. This is not the first time the Pope has visited Budapest, the capital of Hungary, and this time he will carry out his entire plan. He traveled to Budapest in 2021 for the conclusion of the Eucharistic Congress. Pope John Paul II visited Hungary twice (1991 and 1996).

According to the Vatican press office, the main topics Francis will address are ecumenism, the challenges of new generations (among them the environmental challenge), the European Union and the role of the family. War will be another major issue In its meetings in Budapest, the Council of Cardinals meeting at the Vatican on April 24 and 25 emphasized the need for the united work of the whole Church, bearing in mind the issue of conflicts and wars affecting the world. peace And obviously in Budapest Pope Francis will address the situation in Ukraine, where many refugees have arrived in Hungary. Both the countries share a 135 km border thus avoiding war. Escaping Ukrainians arrive at the border in buses, cars and trucks, however, after long queues, they enter Hungary and then move on to other countries such as France, Germany and Italy. More than 500,000 refugees are said to have passed through Hungary.

Through his meetings in Hungary, Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican Press Office, explained to the press, “A word for the whole of Europe, born in the emotional construction of the Community of Nations, which will probably subside. Years. In this period the role of Europe and Europeans will be questioned not only at the political level but also at the social and cultural level. For world peace Europe of the people with a history and responsibility in commitment”.

Meetings with Govt

At the official level, this April 28 is scheduled to be the day of the visit to Budapest. The Pope met with Hungarian President Katalin NovakAt Sandor’s palace, then with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in the former Carmelite monastery that is now the headquarters of his ministry. There, too, he would later receive other powers from civil society and members of the Church and diplomatic corps.

According to various media estimates, it is not easy for Pope Francis to visit Budapest because of the main differences regarding migrants and refugees, but also about the war in Ukraine, which he is conducting with Prime Minister Orbán. Although Orban has already met three times, the last time he was re-elected as prime minister was in April 2022.

The Holy See’s press office said the president, who has been in charge of the country for nearly a year, will hold private meetings with Novak and Orban, meaning all (or nothing) of what was said will not be published. to the press.

Controversial prime minister, representative of European right wing, on migrants and a supporter of former US presidents Donald Trump, has always been against the aid measures discussed in the EU because it considers migrants “poison” for Europe. Orban was one of the few in the EU to seek an end to sanctions against Russia because of the war and opposed the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Finland, which borders Russia, is already officially part of NATO and Sweden soon will be.

Prime Minister of Ukraine in Rome

To all this we must add Audience granted by Pope Francis to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal on Thursday, which was received in the Vatican Apostolic Palace and invited by the Ukrainian Chancellor to visit the Pope in his country. The Prime Minister then met with the Vatican Secretary of State (Holy See’s Number Two), Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations. During the meeting with the Pope, the press office of the Holy See said that many things related to the Pope were highlighted, especially the humanitarian aspect and efforts to restore peace.

In a statement to reporters, Ukraine’s prime minister, for his part, explained to the pope during the meeting “President Volodymyr Zelensky’s peace formula, and we discussed in detail the steps the Vatican can take to help us.” They also spoke of orphans “forcefully taken by Russia” and invited “His Holiness to visit Kyiv”.

Schmihal met with several Italian officials on Wednesday to discuss the right-wing government’s restructuring of his country. Georgia Meloney He says he is very interested in contributing.

Francis has repeatedly expressed his desire to visit Ukraine and Russia, and has actually offered himself as a peace negotiator. But Russia never gave a favorable response.

The rest of the show is in Hungary

Saturday the 29th will be a very intense day for Francisco, who will often meet representatives of sectors abandoned or neglected by society, for which he will always have a special interest. In the morning the Pope will personally visit the children of the Blessed László Báthiani-Strötman Institute, a school and boarding house for blind and partially blind children founded by Nun Anna during the communist era (1945-1989) in Hungary. Fehr, visually impaired. The institution bears the name of an aristocratic character known at the end of the 19th century as the “doctor of the poor” because he was in charge of curing blind and poor boys. László Batthyány-Strattmann was beatified by the Catholic Church in 2003. Later, Francis will visit the poor and refugees at St. Elizabeth Church in Hungary.

He plans to meet members of the Greek-Catholic community in the morning and youth groups in the afternoon. At the end of the afternoon, as he usually does on foreign trips, he meets with members of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, to whom he belongs.

On Sunday Francis will celebrate a mass in Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos Square, one of the most famous squares in the Hungarian capital because it fronts the parliament building. In the afternoon, just before heading to Rome, he will meet university students at the Faculty of Informatics and Bionic Sciences.

Return from Budapest is at 6:00pm local time, reaching Rome at 7:55pm in Italy.