The last three days of April saw Pope Francis’ second visit to Hungary in two years. After the couple of hours he spent at the end of the International Eucharistic Congress in 2021, he came to his first official visit to Hungary on 28 April. Besides the talks with state, government and church officials, his program involved meetings with priests, religious men and women, the poor, refugees from Ukraine, the sick, the young, the representatives of science and culture. As usual, he took every opportunity to meet locals informally as often as possible, even for a handshake or a similar gesture. According to unanimous reports, the success of the visit went beyond all expectations. Although evidently becoming exhausted by the crowded program, he seemed tireless in wanting to meet as many people as possible, conveying them one of his main messages in Hungary: Make bridges, not walls, open the doors, what’s more, be doors yourselves!

On his second day in Budapest, he met with the members of the Hungarian Province of the Society of Jesus. His fellow Jesuits gave him various presents, including a booklet with pictures of their apostolic work; two albums hand-made by the members and clients of the Hungarian Jesuit Refugee Service and our Roma mission; and a pen drive with the video recording of last year’s musical on the life of Saint Ignatius, featuring a song that was chosen to be the official song of the papal visit to Hungary. The meeting was characterized by meaningful and cheerful moments, several questions arose, which Pope Francis was happy to answer, and he was also keen to know more about the Hungarian Jesuits. As usual, it will be Antonio Spadaro SJ, the editor-in-chief La Civiltá Cattolica who will give a detailed account of the meeting in due course.

Jesuits Hungary