Pope Francis said in Budapest on Friday that European Christian values cannot be based on rigidity and narrow-mindedness. He called on Europe to work together to find a safe and legal solution to the migration crisis, reminding that the problem cannot be stopped by keeping people away.
In a clear allusion to the current Hungarian government’s tough anti-immigration policies, Francis said in an address to representatives that accepting people “of different languages and customs” is a sign of brotherhood, just as Saint Stephen I of Hungary wanted. , founder of the Hungarian state.
Hungary’s conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán rejects immigration, especially from Muslim countries, and positions himself as a defender of Europe’s Christian image. To stop people from crisis areas from entering the country, he built a barbed wire fence on Hungary’s southern border.
In his speech, the pope also called for a return to the “spirit of Europe” envisioned by the founding fathers of modern Europe after World War II, saying that individual countries “must look beyond their borders”. He urged politicians to reject “introspective forms of populism” and strict nationalist interests.
On the day that Russia launched another series of attacks on Ukraine less than two months later, Francis again called for an end to the war and a “creative endeavor for peace” that would sink what he called “soloists of war”.
According to Hungarian officials, the Pope came to Budapest primarily to care for Hungarians and support them in their faith. However, the AP news agency wrote that, given that war is raging outside Hungary and the country’s leadership has long been at odds with the European Union over violations of the principles of the rule of law and the rights of people from the LGBT community, the Pope’s visit also has a strong political tone. .
Apart from the faithful or young people, the head of the Catholic Church will also meet war refugees from Ukraine. About 35,000 of the roughly 2.5 million people who crossed the Ukrainian-Russian border after the start of the Russian invasion settled in Hungary.
The AP wrote that the trip to Hungary was a test of the health of the 86-year-old pope, who spent four days in hospital last month with respiratory problems. Hungarian officials hoped the head of the Catholic Church would visit various parts of the country, but the Vatican decided to concentrate all events in Budapest. The highlight of his visit was an open Sunday Mass in front of the Hungarian Parliament.
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