Faithfuls from around the world gathered to participate in Pope Francis’ apostolic journey to Budapest. The three-day event is from Friday, Apr. 28, to Sunday, Apr. 30.
Pope Francis’ Apostolic Journey
Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the 975th-anniversary celebration held on Saturday, Apr. 29, at Inner City Parish Church, organized by the group of Marian pilgrimages in Central Europe known as Mária t (“The Way of Mary”). According to the CatholicNews Agency, this was followed by a conversation at a roundtable with several Christian writers and artists on “Christ is our future,” which is the central theme of Pope Francis’s visit to the capital city of Hungary.
An artistic production based on Bible stories and performed by Hungarian actors Zakariás Éva and Soma Zámbori in front of a filled church served as a prelude to the presentation of the Blessed Sacrament, which went on without interruption until six in the morning the next day.
As mentioned, the faithful congregation was brought together in front of the church a couple of hours later, at 5:30 in the morning. It began singing the Hungarian national anthem then, followed by the singing of the Pontifical Anthem. After that, they made their way to Kossuth Lajos Square, located directly in front of the famous Parliament building in Hungary, for the papal Mass, attended by tens of thousands of people.
As per National Catholic Register, the parish priest of the Inner City Parish Church, Father Zoltán Osztie, observed that the papal journey to Budapest a year and a half after the 2021 worldwide Eucharistic Congress that occurred downtown took on a prophetic dimension in light of the conflict in Ukraine and the ensuing worldwide tensions.
He noted that while a “new order” was attempting to break harmony around the world, the Holy Father came to remind people that any global order detached from God’s peace and stability is bound to fail and be destroyed. The Holy See and Hungary reportedly share a common goal of advancing peace in the world, and the Pope’s presence at their gathering lent a measure of moral authority to the effort.
“Francis came to shed new light on Hungary in the eyes of the rest of the world, which has tended to have a bad image of our country in recent years, often on the basis of false information,” Father Osztie added.
Also Read:Pope Francis Expressed Gratitude to Polish Catholics for Humanitarian Assistance to Ukraine
Blessing Greek Catholic Church
Following his interaction with migrants and refugees at the Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Pope Francis made his way to the nearby Church of the Protection of the Mother of God, which is located in the 7th District’s Rose Square and caters to Catholics of the Byzantine rite, The Vatican News reported.
Archbishop Péter Fulop Kocsis, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Hajdorog, welcomed the Pope when he arrived at the door. The two of them then went to the iconostasis together while the choir sang in the background.
Moreover, after a brief exchange of greetings with the Archbishop, Pope Francis led the community in prayer during a moment of communal reflection. The Greek Catholic community of Hungary presented Pope Francis with a cross, after which he blessed them.
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