Pope Francis thanked Hungarians on Saturday for welcoming Ukrainian refugees and urged them to help anyone in need, as he begged for a culture of charity in a country where the prime minister has justified firm anti-immigration policies with fears that migration threatens Europe's Christian culture.
On the second day of a visit to Hungary, Francis met with refugees and poor people at St. Elizabeth's church -- named for a Hungarian princess who renounced her wealth to dedicate herself to the poor as a follower of the pope's namesake, St. Francis of Assisi.
Speaking in the white-brick St. Elizabeth's church in Budapest, Francis recalled that the Gospel instructs Christians to show love and compassion to all, especially those experiencing poverty and pain and "even those who are not believers." While Orban's government has consistently rejected asylum-seekers from the Middle East and Africa, some 2.5 million Ukrainians fleeing war in their country found open doors. Around 35,000 of the refugees remain in Hungary and have registered for temporary protection there, according to the UN.
There were conspicuously few people of colour in the pews. Among them was artist and filmmaker Abouzar Soltani, a refugee from Iran who spent 553 days in one of Hungary's transit zones with his 10-year-old son, Armin, after Hungarian authorities rejected their asylum claims in 2018.
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