Pope Francis on Sunday called on Hungarians to “open doors” to migrants, as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the central European country led by a prime minister who is staunchly anti-immigration.
Throughout his visit to Budapest — dominated by the war in neighboring Ukraine — Francis has emphasized a welcoming stance towards those fleeing conflict or poverty.
His comments have stood in stark contrast to the stance of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who, while welcoming Ukrainian refugees, has otherwise espoused anti-migration rhetoric to defend a “Christian Europe” since coming to power in 2010.
Photo: AFP
About 50,000 people, including Orban, listened to the pope lead an open-air mass at a central Budapest square under tight security, during which the Argentine pontiff urged all, including “those with political and social responsibilities,” to be more open.
“Please, let us open those doors,” the 86-year-old pontiff said, adding that it was “sad and painful ... to see closed doors. The closed doors of our selfishness with regard to others ... the doors we close towards those who are foreign or unlike us, towards migrants or the poor.”
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 tombs, a world of brothers and sisters, not walls and barricades.”
University student Levente Kiss, 21, who was among those thronging the mass, welcomed the pope’s stance “that really calls us to our Christian mission to support the people in migration crises, especially the war in Ukraine.”
On Sunday night, aboard his papal plane on the flight back to Rome, Francis told journalists that he was willing to help facilitate the return of Ukrainian children who have been taken to Russia.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal made that request to the pope on Thursday during an audience with the pontiff.
As the Holy See has successfully acted as an intermediary in past prisoner exchanges, in this case an attempt “could also go well,” Francis said.
“The Holy See is disposed to do it because it’s right, it’s the right thing and we should help,” he said.
He said he is willing to do everything necessary for peace in Ukraine.
“A mission is under way, but it isn’t yet public,” he said, not elaborating.
On Saturday, Francis met refugees — including many from Ukraine — at a Budapest church, where he spoke of the “evils of indifference” to those in need.
While Orban’s government has welcomed those fleeing Ukraine, activists say there is barely a support system in place.
His insistence on maintaining ties with Moscow has also alienated Ukrainians.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) greetings with what appeared to be restrained rhetoric that comes as Pyongyang moves closer to Russia and depends less on its long-time Asian ally. Kim wished “the Chinese people greater success in building a modern socialist country,” in a reply message to Xi for his congratulations on North Korea’s birthday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday. The 190-word dispatch had little of the florid language that had been a staple of their correspondence, which has declined significantly this year, an analysis by Seoul-based specialist service NK Pro showed. It said
On an island of windswept tundra in the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles from mainland Alaska, a resident sitting outside their home saw — well, did they see it? They were pretty sure they saw it — a rat. The purported sighting would not have gotten attention in many places around the world, but it caused a stir on Saint Paul Island, which is part of the Pribilof Islands, a birding haven sometimes called the “Galapagos of the north” for its diversity of life. That is because rats that stow away on vessels can quickly populate and overrun remote islands, devastating bird
‘CLOSER TO THE END’: The Ukrainian leader said in an interview that only from a ‘strong position’ can Ukraine push Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘to stop the war’ Decisive actions by the US now could hasten the end of the Russian war against Ukraine next year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday after telling ABC News that his nation was “closer to the end of the war.” “Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States,” Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram after meeting with a bipartisan delegation from the US Congress. “Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year,” he wrote. Zelenskiy is in the US for the UN
A 64-year-old US woman took her own life inside a controversial suicide capsule at a Swiss woodland retreat, with Swiss police on Tuesday saying several people had been arrested. The space-age looking Sarco capsule, which fills with nitrogen and causes death by hypoxia, was used on Monday outside a village near the German border. The portable human-sized pod, self-operated by a button inside, has raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland. Active euthanasia is banned in the country, but assisted dying has been legal for decades. On the same day it was used, Swiss Department of Home