This message was repeated throughout his visit, in an indirect criticism of the policy of exclusion practiced by the nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
In front of the crowd gathered in the bright sunshine outside Parliament in the heart of the Hungarian capital, the 86-year-old Argentine Jesuit spoke out against “closed doors to the stranger, the different, the immigrant and the poor.”
“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,” he added.
The pope, a staunch defender of refugees, told political and religious officials, including Viktor Orban, “Please: let’s open the doors!”
“A world of brotherhood, not of walls”
The topic of migration dominated Pope Francis’ 41st international trip to this central European country that built walls on its borders during the migrant crisis in 2015 and detained refugees in “transit zones”, under the pretext of defending “Christian civilization”.
Since his arrival in Budapest on Friday, the Pope has warned against “intransigence”, “closure” and a tendency to “retreat”.
He also 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 world of brotherhood, not of walls.”
Minutes earlier, Jorge Bergoglio had 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, including families, young people and people in traditional dress.
Levent Kiss, a 21-year-old student from Hungary, praised the Pope’s “call to support immigrants, especially those fleeing the war in Ukraine,” at a time when Hungary has deviated from its usual policy of welcoming many Ukrainians since the start of the war.
“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.
Meeting with exhibitors
“This is the first time I see the Pope because I was very young in 1991 and I was living abroad in 1996,” Ferenc Torch, 43, said, referring to my visit by Pope John Paul II, the only pope to have visited the country. It is very important in my life.”
At an unannounced date on his program, Pope Francis met, on Saturday evening, for about twenty minutes, the mayor of Budapest, Gergli Karacsony, a fierce opponent of the prime minister.
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.
On Sunday afternoon, the spiritual leader of more than 1.3 billion Catholics will deliver a final address at 16:00 (14:00 GMT) to representatives of the cultural and scientific world at the Catholic University of Budapest.
He will return to Rome in the early evening and will hold his traditional press conference on board the plane in front of the accompanying journalists.
Despite the pain he suffers from in the knee, which 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.
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2023-04-30 12:40:13
