On the second day of his visit to Hungary, after meeting refugees and the poor at St. Elizabeth's church, named after a Hungarian princess who gave up her fortune to devote herself to the poor as a follower of the pope of the same name, St. Francis Of Assisi, Pope Francis thanked Hungarians for welcoming Ukrainian refugees and urged them to help anyone in need, while pleading for a charitable culture in a country where the prime minister justified strict anti-immigration policies with fears that immigration threatens Christian culture in Europe.

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Edited by| Hugh Gey

 

Europe section -  CJ journalist

 

BUDAPEST — April,29,2023

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Speaking in the white-brick church in Budapest, Francis recalled that the Gospel instructs Christians to show love and compassion to all, especially those experiencing poverty and pain and “even those who are not believers.”

“The love that Jesus gives us and commands us to practice can help to uproot the evils of indifference and selfishness from society, from our cities and the places where we live — indifference is a plague —- and to rekindle hope for a new, more just and fraternal world, where all can feel at home,” he said.

Hungary’s nationalist government has implemented firm anti-immigration policies and refused to accept many asylum-seekers trying to enter the country through its southern border, leading to prolonged legal disputes with the European Union.

The conservative populist prime minister, Viktor Orban, has said that migration threatens to replace Europe’s Christian culture. Orban, who has held office since 2010, has hinged multiple election campaigns on the threats he alleges migrants and refugees pose to Hungarians.

While Orban’s government has consistently rejected asylum-seekers from the Middle East and Africa, some 2.5 million Ukrainians fleeing war in their country found open doors. Around 35,000 of the refugees remain in Hungary and have registered for temporary protection there, according to the U.N.

Yet monetary assistance for the Ukrainian refugees has been meager. Fewer Ukrainians have opted to stay in Hungary than any other country in Eastern Europe except Belarus.

Francis praised the Hungary’s Catholic Church for providing aid to people fleeing war and urged continued charity toward any who need help. He heard from a members of a Ukrainian family who fled Russia’s invasion, traveling for days to reach Hungary after missiles rained down on their hometown of Dnipro, in May of last year.

At the end of the event, a band of Hungarian Roma musicians serenaded the pontiff, drawing a standing ovation and cheers from the crowd and a thumbs up from Francis.

Francis started his Saturday visiting with children who have visual and physical disabilities. In the afternoon, he has his first big public event in Hungary, a youth rally at the city’s sports stadium.

He plans to wrap up his visit with an open-air Mass on Sunday and speech at Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest.

Upon arriving in Hungary on Friday, Francis urged Europe to find again its founding values of peaceful unity as he denounced the “adolescent belligerence” of Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine.

 

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