Pope Francis, a tireless advocate of “openness to others,” called Saturday to “eradicate the evils of indifference” during a meeting with refugees on the second day of his visit to Hungary.
Source: AFP
The 86-year-old Argentine Jesuit, in fragile health, set the tone upon his arrival in Budapest on Friday. He warned against “rigidity and closure” and the tendency to “retreat” in a speech in front of the nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, known for his anti-immigration policy.
On Saturday morning, some 600 refugees, mainly from Ukraine, as well as poor people, gathered at the neo-Gothic church of St. Elisabeth, built at the end of the 19th century in the heart of Budapest.
A thousand faithful attended the event from the esplanade.
After hearing several testimonies, including that of Oleg Yakovlev, a Ukrainian father of five who said he had fled his country at war, the pope thanked the Hungarians.
In particular to religious associations, “for the effort made in charity” and “for the way in which they have welcomed – not only generously but also with enthusiasm – many refugees from Ukraine”.
Contrary to its usual discourse, the Orbán government likes to praise the hospitality offered to the displaced from neighboring Ukraine, the central theme of this second papal visit in less than two years to this Central European country.
– “Come back quickly” –
Since the start of the conflict, more than two million Ukrainians have transited through Hungarian soil, although only 35,000 have applied for the “temporary protection” status implemented by the European Union (EU), according to data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). ).
“We feel safe here, a lot of people are helping us,” said Olesia Misiats, a mother of three who had to leave kyiv last year. Sitting in church with her daughter and her husband, she says she is “happy” with this visit. “I respect the Pope a lot because he prays for Ukraine, he wants this war to end,” she said.
In front of closed doors, under a gray sky, Elena, a 43-year-old Ukrainian dancer who did not want to give her last name, said she came “to see the Pope who is a great defender of peace.”
“I have a nine-year-old boy and the only thing that matters is that our children are still alive,” she told AFP along with her sister Vika. “We haven’t had any problems here, but we want to come back quickly, we don’t really integrate,” she confessed.
In fact, Orbán’s ambiguous position on the conflict does not encourage Ukrainians to stay in Hungary.
The nationalist leader goes against the grain of the solidarity shown by the EU and NATO and has refused to send arms to kyiv while maintaining close ties with the Kremlin.
A fragile health –
The situation is even tougher for migrants of other nationalities.
Far from the welcome without distinction that the Pope proclaims, Orbán wields the defense of “Christian civilization” to reject migrants.
During his tenure, Hungary built fences on its borders and restricted the lodging of asylum applications at its embassies abroad, a policy that earned him several sentences from the EU Court of Justice.
Last year, only 18 people obtained refugee status, a paltry number compared to other EU countries.
The elderly pontiff, in fragile health, met with children and young people with disabilities who sang in front of him. At the end of the morning he also visited the Greek Catholic community, an Eastern church of the Byzantine rite that recognizes the authority of the Pope.
He will deliver a new speech in the afternoon (2:30 p.m. GMT) in a stadium where some 11,000 young people are expected and will preside over an open-air mass on Sunday behind the Parliament in Budapest.
Despite persistent knee pain, forcing him to use a wheelchair, the smiling Pope appears to be in good health, on his 41st international trip after his election in 2013.
