Pope urges anti-immigration Hungary to ‘open doors’ to refugees

Key points:
  • Pope Francis spent three days in Hungary.
  • He urged the country to welcome migrants fleeing war or poverty.
  • Longtime Prime Minister Viktor Orban has pursued a policy of restricting migration to Hungary.
Pope Francis urged Hungarians to “open doors” to migrants, ending a three-day visit to the central European country led by a strongly anti-immigration prime minister.
Throughout his visit to Budapest, where war rages in neighboring Ukraine, Pope Francis has emphasized a welcoming stance towards those fleeing conflict or poverty.

His comments stand in stark contrast to that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who, while welcoming Ukrainian refugees, has adopted anti-immigration rhetoric to defend “Christian Europe” since coming to power in 2010.

Some 50,000 people, including Mr. Orbán, listened as the Pope celebrated an open-air mass in the central square of Budapest under heavy security, during which the pontiff called on everyone, including “those with political and social responsibility”, to be more open.
“Please, let’s open those doors!” the 86-year-old pontiff said, adding that he was “sad and hurt … to see closed doors.”

“The closed doors of our selfishness towards others … the doors we close to those who are alien or different from us, to migrants or the poor,” Francis said.

Visit of Pope Francis to Hungary - day one

Pope Francis greets the faithful as they arrive at Budapest Airport on April 28, 2023. Source: Getty / SOPA/LightRocket Images

“Migration Crises”

At the end of the Mass, the Pope prayed for “the beleaguered Ukrainian people and the Russian people” and for “a future of hope, not war, a future full of cradles, not graves, peace of brothers and sisters, not walls and barricades.” “.
Levente Kiss, a 21-year-old university student who was among those who gathered for mass, hailed the Pope’s position “which really calls us to our Christian mission to support people in migration crises, especially in the war in Ukraine.”

On Sunday evening, aboard his papal plane flying back to Rome, Francis told reporters that he was ready to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Chmyhal made such a request to the Pope on Thursday during an audience with the pontiff.
Noting that the Holy See had successfully acted as an intermediary in past prisoner exchanges, Francis said that in this case, the assassination “may also succeed.”

“The Holy See is ready to do this because it is right, it is right and we must help,” the Pope said.

HUNGARY-VATICAN-RELIGION-PAPA

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends the Holy Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in Budapest on April 30, 2023, the last day of his three-day trip to Hungary. Source: Getty / Nicolas Economou

On Saturday, Francis met with refugees, including many from Ukraine, at a church in Budapest, where he spoke about the “vices of indifference” to those in need.

While the government of Viktor Orban has welcomed those who have fled Ukraine, activists say there is little to no support system. His insistence on maintaining ties with Moscow has also alienated Ukrainians.

Mr. Orban, for his part, wrote on Facebook on Sunday that “we need a world, a world full of cradles, not graves.” The Hungarian leader also called for peace talks to try to end the war in Ukraine.

Heading home

Before returning home on Sunday, Francis gave his last speech to scholars at the Catholic University in Budapest.
The trip to Budapest was his second visit to the country after a short stop in 2021. Prior to that, John Paul II was the first pope to visit Hungary, where 39 percent of the population is Catholic, making trips in 1991 and 1996.

Francis’ trip came a month after he spent three nights in the hospital with bronchitis.

But despite the constant pain in his knee that forces him to move around in a wheelchair, the Pope seems to be in good shape.
On Saturday, he met with Budapest Mayor Gergely Karachon, a bitter opponent of Viktor Orban.

He also met with Hilarion, the bishop appointed head of the Russian Orthodox Church and Kremlin supporter Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Church’s foreign relations department.