2023-04-28 09:06:08
The 86-year-old Pope’s plane arrived at around 8:00 GMT in the capital, Budapest, where he will spend all the days of the visit due to his fragile health. After a month in hospital with bronchitis, the Argentine pope’s health will be watched closely during the visit.
The head of the Catholic Church had a seven-hour stopover in Budapest in September 2021, during which he called on Hungarians to “open up” to everyone and promised to return to this Central European country with a population of 9.7 million, 39% of whom are Catholics, according to the latest The numbers go back to 2011.
President Katalin Novak will receive the Pope on Friday at the presidential palace, and she told the media that she learned Spanish to be able to talk to him, then he will meet Viktor Orban, who has been in power since 2010.
Despite their common vision on issues such as the family, the positions of the two men differ on several other issues. Orban declares his adherence to “Christian Europe” to justify his policy of opposition to immigrants, while the Pope calls for a fair distribution of immigrants within the European Union.
Aware of this sensitive diplomatic position, the Pope was keen to present himself as a “friend and brother to all,” while the authorities stressed the spiritual nature of this visit, stressing that it was not a “political event.”
At noon, the Pope will deliver an anticipated first address to the authorities and the diplomatic corps. He may renew his many calls for peace in neighboring Ukraine, while the war in this country imposes itself as a major topic during this visit.
– ‘Big power’ –
While the Pope condemned the “aggression” once morest Ukraine, Orban, who adheres to the defense of “Christian values”, is keen to maintain relations with Moscow and not criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin and refuses to send weapons to Kiev.
According to Zoltan Kisily, director of the pro-government think tank Szazadveg, the Hungarian prime minister will be keen to stress “common points of view” and might “benefit from this visit domestically”.
On Friday followingnoon, the pope will meet local clergy at the Saint-Etienne basilica, which has giant screens and chairs set up in front of it, while tight security measures are in place around the city of 1.7 million that the Danube river crosses.
“It is wonderful that the Pope has returned to Hungary in such a short period of time following his last visit,” said 32-year-old Hungarian Anna Maria Senzi. “I hope that his main message is the message of peace in the world and that his words will have great power.”
During his 41st trip abroad since his election in 2013, Pope Francis will deliver six addresses and preside over an open-air Mass Sunday. He will also meet the poor, young people, members of the local church, and representatives of the university and cultural sector.
Despite his advanced age and knee pain that forces him to use a cane or a wheelchair, the Pope still travels. He will visit Lisbon in August and Marseille in September, as well as Mongolia.
Pope Francis is the second pontiff to visit Hungary, following the visits of Pope John Paul II in 1991 and 1996.
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