BUDAPEST: After the completion of his visit to Hungary, a nation with a populist anti-immigration cabinet, Pope Francis urged Hungarians to “open doors” to refugees.
The pontiff described it as “painful and sad” to see doors closed to human beings who were “unlike us” while addressing a crowd at an outdoor mass in the nation’s capital, Budapest. The liturgy was attended by up to 100,000 individuals, including Viktor Orban, the prime minister.
Building a barbed-wire border fence to prevent refugees from entering Hungary, Orban criticised immigration.
Addressing a gathering near the Hungarian parliament building on Sunday, Pope Francis urged everyone, including “people with social and political responsibilities”, to be more open. He talked about “the closed doors of our selfishness about others… the doors we shut towards those who are foreigners or unlike us, towards migrants or the poor”.
The 86-year-old pontiff from Argentina mentioned the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022 at the liturgy. He prayed for “a future of hope, not war,” as well as for the “troubled people of Ukraine and the people of Russia.”
He claimed that the Vatican was participating in a peace mission to try to stop the war later, on his flight home. “A mission is underway, but it has not been made public. I will reveal it when it is public,” he assured reporters.
He said that the Vatican was prepared to make it easier for Ukrainian children transferred to Russia since the invasion to return home. Kyiv describes the deportation of thousands of Ukrainian youngsters to Russia as a war crime.
The Pope noted that he had discussed the Ukraine conflict with Orban and the Russian Orthodox Church’s representative. The three-day trip was Pope Francis’ first significant visit to Hungary since he was elected Pope 10 years ago.
According to the BBC’s Nick Thorpe in Budapest, Orban’s strong anti-immigration attitude, which contrasts with his sincere empathy for all migrants, kept him away.
The BBC correspondent added that the war in Ukraine initially drew him to the nation in addition to his support for Catholics. Ukraine and Hungary are separated by a 134-kilometre (85 mi) border. Unlike other EU leaders, Viktor Orban has maintained ties with Vladimir Putin of Russia while refusing to support military aid for Ukraine.
The Pope met people from various walks of life during the carefully planned visit to Hungary, including young people, the underprivileged, politicians, and academics.
