Matteo Bruni recalled that in September 2021, Pope Francis participated in the closing mass of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, and on the way back to the Vatican, he told the journalists accompanying him that he would like to return to Hungary to devote more time to the Hungarians. "The current visit to Hungary is the fulfillment of that promise," emphasized the Szentszék spokesperson.

Pope Francis and his entourage will depart from Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino and fly to Hungary via Croatia.

Pope Francis delivers six speeches, all in Italian. Regarding the planned topics of the speeches and homilies, Matteo Bruni said that during his visit in 2021, the head of the church already spoke about the priests who sacrificed their lives during the period of the communist dictatorship and were prevented from serving, and about the believers who were persecuted for practicing their faith.

Bruni noted that the system at that time also tried to prevent contact between the Vatican and the Hungarian Church.

Matteo Bruni emphasized that the apostolic journey will be rich in meetings with representatives of Hungarian church life, politics and society.

SPOKESPERSON SZENTSZÉK THANKED THE HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS DOING EVERYTHING TO GET AS MANY AS POSSIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC PROGRAMS FROM OTHER PARTS OF HUNGARY AND THE NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES.

The spokesperson explained that the visit falls on an extraordinary liturgical period in the weeks after Easter, so the message of the trip is about the future, hope, openness, and trust for Christians in the current difficult era.

We will be a few hundred kilometers from Ukraine - said Matteo Bruni, who did not rule out that Pope Francis would also raise his voice for peace in his speeches.

The head of the Szentszék press center called Budapest the city of the Danube and bridges: in this regard, he stated,

POPE FRANCIS IN THE PAST SPOKE WITH RECOGNITION ABOUT THE ATTENTION THAT THE HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT GIVES TO THE GREAT CHALLENGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.

Bruni believed that the Budapest bridges also refer to the relations between European peoples, and that Pope Francis can send a message from Budapest to the "Europe of the peoples" to awaken the original European spirit, which is also a current challenge.

Source: Origo

Featured image: MTI