BUDAPEST (AP) – Pope Francis urged Hungarians to open up to others , making a weekend visit as Europe welcomes migrants and the poor, pleading for an end to the Russian war in Ukraine.
Francis appealed from the banks of the Danube as he celebrated Mass at Kossuth Lahos Square in Budapest, with the Hungarian Parliament Building and Budapest’s famous Chain Bridge in the background. The celebration provided a visual highlight of Pope Francis’ three-day visit, which was dominated by the Vatican’s concerns over the plight of immigrants and the war in neighboring Ukraine.
Quoting a local organizer, the Vatican said about 50,000 people attended Mass on a bright and sunny spring morning, of which more than 30,000 people gathered in the square. Among them were President Katalin Novak and Hungary’s right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Francis thanked Hungary for hosting Ukrainian refugees recently. But he questions Orban’s strict anti-immigrant policies, which included building a barbed wire fence on the border with Serbia in 2015-2016 to prevent people from entering. , Francis called on Hungary and all of Europe to welcome those fleeing war, poverty and climate change, and called for safe and legal migration routes.
Francis, 86, has taken a diplomatic balancing act in his plea to declare solidarity with the Ukrainians and call for an end to the Russian war, while keeping the door open to dialogue with Russia. On Saturday, he prayed with Ukrainian refugees and then met with the envoy of Russian Patriarch Kirill. He strongly supports the invasion of Moscow, justifying it as a metaphysical struggle against the liberal West.
Francis kissed the cross of Metropolitan Hilarion as a sign of respect for the Russian Orthodox Church during a “heartfelt” 20-minute meeting at the Pontifical Embassy in Budapest, the Vatican said. Hilarion, who has maintained good relations with the Vatican as Minister of Foreign Affairs, explained to Francis about his current job as a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in Budapest.
According to Vatican News, Hilarion attended Francis’ Mass on Sunday, along with representatives of other Christian churches and Jewish communities in Hungary. Francis’ second visit to Hungary in the last few years brought him closer than ever to not only the Ukrainian front, but also to the heart of Europe. There, Orban’s openly right-wing Christian government is positioned as a bulwark against the secularizing Western world.
But Francis took advantage of his visit to citing Budapest’s bridges over the Danube as symbols of unity and connection, inspiring the continent to rediscover its spirit of unity and purpose.
The location of his Closing Mass could not have been more appropriate for Francis’ message.
The sprawling square is named after one of Hungary’s most famous politicians. He was Hungary’s first prime minister after the revolution against Habsburg rule in 1848-1849. Separated from the left bank of the Danube is Hungary’s iconic neo-Gothic parliament building, the country’s largest building and also the seat of the National Assembly. Nearby is his one of several bridges over the river connecting the Pest and Buda sides of the city, the Chain Bridge. Sister Marta, a Brazilian-born Hungarian nun who attended Mass, said she hoped Francis’ message of welcome to Hungary would be heard. I hope Hungary will open up in this direction,” she said after the liturgy.
But Budapest-based Erno Sala said the country is fine as it is.
“I don’t know if we (Hungarians) need to change. At his final event in Hungary late Sunday, Pope Francis warned of the dangers of technology dominating human life in a speech at the Pazmani Peter Catholic University. Speaking broadly about the future of Europe, Francis said that the culture and science created by the university is the antidote to a future determined by technology.
Universities are “temples where knowledge can become culture, freed from the constraints of accumulation and ownership,” he said. Such a culture “nurtures our humanity and our basic relationships.
