Pope Francis Urges Hungary to Open Doors for Migrants and Warns Against Isolation and Closed Borders

30.04.2023

While some considered it an implicit criticism of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s policies towards refugees and immigrants, the Pope called on the Vatican to “open the doors” and warned against “introduction” and “closure”. This came during an outdoor mass in front of tens of thousands of people in Budapest.

Pope Francis concluded his visit to Hungary on Sunday (April 30, 2023), making an urgent appeal to receive migrants, as he called for “opening the doors” during an open-air mass in front of tens of thousands of people, in the midst of The war in Ukraine Neighboring.

The Pope warns of isolation and introversion

While thanking the Hungarian people for welcoming the Ukrainians, the Pope repeated the warning against “introduction” and “closure”, in an indirect criticism. exclusion policy exercised by the national Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Urban.

In front of the crowd that gathered to participate in the Mass in the sunshine outside Parliament in the heart of the Hungarian capital, the 86-year-old Argentine Jesuit spoke out against “closed doors In front of someone who is strange, different, immigrant and poor.”

In his sermon, he added, “It is sad and painful to see the closed doors: the closed doors of our selfishness towards those who walk beside us daily… the closed doors of indifference towards those who live in pain and poverty.” The pope, a staunch defender of refugees, told political and religious officials, including Viktor Orban, “Please: let’s open the doors!”

A number of officials attended the service, including President Katalin Novak and Prime Minister Orban. It is noteworthy that these two officials follow an anti-immigration policy. Also present at the Mass was the Mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karacsony, who welcomed the Pope on Saturday. Karacsony is a major political rival for Orban.

On Sunday afternoon, the spiritual leader of more than 1.3 billion Catholics gave a final address to representatives of the cultural and academic world at the Catholic University of Budapest, then departed for Rome just after 18:00 (16:00 GMT). He will hold his traditional press conference on the plane in front of the journalists accompanying him.

In a tweet on his Twitter account, the Pope thanked the Hungarian people and said: “I thank the beloved Hungarian people for their welcome and for the affection I have experienced in these days”:

Pope Francis has spearheaded delicate diplomacy during his 41st international trip to the central European country, which fenced off its borders during the 2015 migrant crisis and detained refugees in “transit zones”, citing the defense of “Christian civilization”.

Calls for peace in Ukraine

The Pope repeated his calls for peace in neighboring Ukraine, denouncing the rise of nationalism and urging that Europe “find its soul again” in the face of “a kind of childhood illness in dealing with war”.

At the end of the mass, he prayed again for the “stricken Ukrainian people” and “the Russian people,” calling for “a future full of cradles, not graves, and a world of fraternity, not of walls.”

Minutes earlier, Jorge Bergoglio blessed from his “papal car” about fifty thousand faithful – according to the local authorities – who were present in the square not far from the Danube, among them families, young men and people in traditional dress.

Pope Francis is the second greatest pontiff to visit Hungary after Pope John Paul II.

A tribute to the Pope’s call to support immigrants

Levent Kess, a 21-year-old student from Hungary, praised “the pope’s call to support migrants, especially those fleeing the war in Ukraine,” at a time when Hungary has deviated from its usual policy of welcoming many refugees since the start of the conflict.

“Even if his opinion sometimes does not coincide with the opinion of various organizations or the government, it is important that we achieve our Christian message away from political words,” the young man said in response to an AFP question.

Viktor Orban, for whom the Pope’s visit appeared to be a diplomatic success, reposted the pope’s call for “peace” on Facebook. Orban constantly criticizes the “indirect war” that Europe is waging against Russia and calls for a cease-fire.

And at an unannounced date in his program, Pope Francis met, on Saturday evening, for about twenty minutes, the mayor of Budapest, Gergli Karacsoni. He also met the former head of external relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion, who was also present at the Sunday service.

After Hilarion had expressed reservations about invading Ukraine, he was expelled by Patriarch Kirill, a staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a time when the dispute had frozen relations between the Moscow Church and the Holy See.

Despite the knee pain that forces him to use a cane or a wheelchair, the Pope appeared to be in good condition, a month after his admission to the hospital.

A.H./P.S. (AFP, DPA)