The Lateran Cathedral, also known as the former seat of the popes, is guarded by II. Pope Sylvester's tomb, on which a relief depicts the scene when the pope handed over the royal crown intended for St. Stephen to Abbot Astrik.
The three-day Hungarian National Pilgrimage was announced by the MKPK as a thank you for Pope Francis' apostolic visit to Budapest between April 28 and 30 last year.
One thousand five hundred people from the dioceses of Hungary came to the pilgrimage, seventeen archbishops and bishops accompany the faithful. They also came from areas beyond the border, from the Highlands, Transylvania, and the South, as well as from various cities in Western Europe, and the community of Hungarians in Rome and members of the Hungarian Catholic mission in Italy got involved.
Most of the pilgrims who traveled to Rome in groups and individually, by plane, bus and car, reached their destination by Tuesday morning. The Hungarian church guesthouses operating in the Italian capital are completely full.
According to the previously announced program, on the morning of April 24, Archbishop György Udvardy of Veszprém, vice president of the MKPK, will present a mass in the former St. Paul's Basilica outside the city walls.
On the morning of April 25, Pope Francis will receive the Hungarians
in the private hearing reserved for them in the Vatican audience hall. Afterwards, in St. Peter's Basilica, Cardinal Péter Erdő, Primate, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest will present the closing mass of the pilgrimage.
MTI
Cover photo: Illustration / Vatican City, December 31, 2023.
Pope Francis prays the Sunday Angelus from the window of his Vatican study overlooking St. Peter's Square on December 31, 2023, the last Sunday of the year.
MTI/EPA/Vatican Media
