The pope ended his visit to Hungary with an appeal to welcome migrants and multiplied the warnings against the “withdrawal” and “closures”, indirect criticism of the Hungarian president’s policy.
“Let’s open the doors”: Pope Francis ended his visit to Hungary on Sunday with a vibrant call to welcome migrants in front of tens of thousands of people, at the end of a stay in the shadow of the war in Ukraine neighbor.
If he thanked the Hungarians for their reception of the Ukrainians, François multiplied the warnings against the “withdrawal” and the “closures”, in an indirect criticism of the policy of exclusion of the nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
During a mass in the heart of Budapest, the 86-year-old Argentinian Jesuit spoke out against “the doors closed to those who are foreign, different, migrants, poor”.
“It is sad and painful to see closed doors: the closed doors of our selfishness towards those who walk alongside us every day (…) the closed doors of our indifference to those who are in suffering and poverty”, he lamented in his homily.
A delicate diplomatic exercise
“Please, let’s open the doors!”, Launched the pope, a fervent defender of the rights of refugees, in front of political and religious leaders including Viktor Orban.
On Sunday afternoon, the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church gave a final speech to representatives of the cultural and academic world at the Catholic University, then left for Rome shortly after 6:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. GMT). He must give his traditional press conference on the plane in front of the journalists accompanying him on board.
For his 41st international trip, François led a delicate diplomatic exercise in this central European country which built fences on its borders during the migrant crisis in 2015 and detained refugees in “transit zones”, on behalf of of the defense of “Christian civilisation”.
The sovereign pontiff also reiterated his calls for peace in neighboring Ukraine, denouncing the rise of nationalism and urging to “rediscover the European soul” in the face of “bellicose infantilism”.
Prayer for the “bruised Ukrainian people”
At the end of the mass, he again prayed for “the bruised Ukrainian people” and “the Russian people”, calling for “a future full of cradles, not graves, a world of brothers, not walls”.
Levente Kiss, a 21-year-old student from Hungary, hailed “the Pope’s call to support migrants, especially those fleeing the war in Ukraine”, as Hungary deviated from its usual policy and welcomed from the start of the conflict of many refugees.
“Even if sometimes his opinion does not correspond to that of different organizations or the government, it is important that beyond political words, we accomplish our Christian mission,” said the young man interviewed by AFP.
Viktor Orban retains the message of “peace”
Viktor Orban, for whom this visit barely two years after a quick stopover in Budapest appears to be a diplomatic success, preferred to retain the message of “peace” from the pope, in a message posted on Facebook. He himself continues to castigate the “indirect war” waged by Europe against Russia and calls for a ceasefire.
During an appointment not announced in his program, François spoke for about twenty minutes on Saturday evening with the mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, a fierce opponent of the Prime Minister. He also had a meeting – “cordial” according to the Vatican – with Metropolitan Hilarion, ex-responsible for external relations of the Russian Orthodox Church who was also present at mass on Sunday.
Reluctant to invade Ukraine, the latter was ousted by Patriarch Kirill, a close supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the conflict froze relations between the Church of Moscow and the Holy See.
