Pope Francis has chosen to be buried not in St Peter’s Basilica alongside his immediate predecessors but in a basilica in Rome, he revealed in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.

“The place is already prepared. I want to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore,” the pontiff, who turns 87 this weekend, told Mexican broadcaster Televisa’s N+ streaming service.

In the same interview, he revealed he planned to visit Belgium in 2024, and also hoped to visit his native Argentina and Polynesia.

Francis’s decision means he would become the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican for more than 100 years.

The last to eschew a tomb in St Peter’s was Leo XIII, who died in 1903. His remains lie in the basilica of St John the Lateran in Rome.

Santa Maria Maggiore is one of the four papal basilicas in Rome, and one with which Francis said he felt a “special connection”.

He would often go there on a Sunday while visiting Rome before becoming pope. Since his election in 2013, he prays there before and after taking a trip, and has also prayed there after undergoing surgery.

Seven popes have previously been laid to rest in the basilica, according to the Vatican News official media outlet.

The pontiff has suffered from increasing health issues in recent years, and was forced to cancel a visit to COP28 climate talks in Dubai due to bronchitis.

In his interview recorded on Tuesday, in which he appeared much better, he paid tribute to his predecessor Benedict XVI for having had “the courage” to step down when his health was failing him.

The German pontiff in 2013 became the first pope since the Middle Ages to resign.

Benedict died on December 31, 2022, and after a funeral in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican — led by Francis — his body was buried in the tomb under the church.

It was the same tomb that held former pope John Paul II’s body before it was moved for his beatification in 2011.

Francis has said he would be open to following Benedict’s example if he could no longer perform his duties, but has said stepping down should not become a “normal thing” for popes.

Source: AFP

The Chinese government has expanded its campaign of closing mosques to regions other than Xinjiang, where for years it has been blamed for persecuting Muslim minorities, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday.

Authorities have closed mosques in the northern Ningxia region as well as Gansu province, which are home to large populations of Hui Muslims, as part of a process known officially as “consolidation,” according to the report, which draws on public documents, satellite images and witness testimonies.

Local authorities also have been removing architectural features of mosques to make them look more “Chinese,” part of a campaign by the ruling Communist Party to tighten control over religion and reduce the risk of possible challenges to its rule.

President Xi Jinping in 2016 called for the “Sinicization” of religions, initiating a crackdown that has largely concentrated on the western region of Xinjiang, home to more than 11 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.

A United Nations report last year found China may have committed “crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang, including through its construction of a network of extrajudicial internment camps believed to have held at least 1 million Uyghurs, Huis, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.

Chinese authorities have decommissioned, closed down, demolished or converted mosques for secular use in regions outside Xinjiang as part of a campaign aimed at cracking down on religious expression, according to Human Rights Watch.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately answer faxed questions seeking comment on the report and its official policies toward Muslim minorities.

One of the first known references to “mosque consolidation” appears in an internal party document from April 2018 that was leaked to U.S. media as part of a trove of documents known as the “Xinjiang Papers.” The file instructed state agencies throughout the country to “strengthen the standardized management of the construction, renovation and expansion of Islamic religious venues” and stressed that “there should not be newly built Islamic venues” in order to “compress the overall number (of mosques).”

“The Chinese government is not ‘consolidating’ mosques as it claims, but closing many down in violation of religious freedom,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch. “The Chinese government’s closure, destruction and repurposing of mosques is part of a systematic effort to curb the practice of Islam in China.”

In Liaoqiao and Chuankou villages in Ningxia, authorities dismantled the domes and minarets of all seven mosques and razed the main buildings of three of them between 2019 and 2021, according to videos and pictures posted online and corroborated with satellite imagery by the group’s researchers.

Additionally, the ablution hall of one mosque was damaged inside, according to videos obtained by the group.

The Associated Press could not independently verify the changes described in the report.

The policy of “consolidating mosques” was also referenced in a March 2018 document issued by the government of Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia. According to the paper, the government wanted to “strictly control the number and scale of religious venues” and called for mosques to adopt “Chinese architecture styles.”

The paper suggested the “integration and combination of mosques” could “solve the problem of too many religious venues.”

In Gansu province, several local governments have detailed efforts to “consolidate” mosques.

In Guanghe County, where the majority of the population is Hui, authorities in 2020 “canceled the registration of 12 mosques, closed down five mosques and improved and consolidated another five,” according to the government’s annual yearbook, referenced in the Human Rights Watch report.

News reports also suggest the Chinese government has closed or altered mosques in other places around the country, occasionally facing public backlash. In May, protesters in Nagu town in southern Yunnan province clashed with police over the planned demolition of a mosque’s dome.

Source: AP

Pope Francis on Saturday dismissed US bishop Joseph Strickland, a prominent conservative who has repeatedly criticised his papacy, following concerns over his leadership and governance.

The Vatican did not explain the move, a rare sacking in the Catholic Church where troublesome senior clerics are normally encouraged — or told — to resign.

But a US cardinal said it was linked to an inquiry ordered by Francis into “all aspects of governance and leadership” of Strickland’s Tyler diocese in Texas.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, also of Texas, said the so-called apostolic visitation in June reported back that it was “not feasible” that the bishop stay in office.

He revealed that Strickland, 65, had been asked on Thursday to resign, but refused — prompting Francis to step in.

“The Holy Father has relieved from the pastoral governance of the diocese of Tyler (US) Joseph E. Strickland,” the Vatican said in a statement.

It said the bishop of Austin, Joe Vasquez, had been named as apostolic administrator of the diocese, but gave no further details.

‘Reactionary attitude’

Strickland was appointed by Benedict XVI in 2012, and became one of the most prominent critics of his successor, Pope Francis.

The Argentine pope, 86, has sought since taking office 10 years ago to forge a more compassionate Church, open to different views.

But he has faced intense opposition from critics — particularly in the United States — who accuse him of causing confusion and failing to uphold key Catholic beliefs.

In a message earlier this year on X, formerly Twitter, Strickland said that while he recognised Francis as the pope, “I reject his programme of undermining the deposit of faith”.

Many of Francis’ critics complain he is not outspoken enough on abortion and too compassionate towards homosexuals and divorcees.

He in turn lamented earlier this year the “strong reactionary attitude” of some Catholics in the US, who he said do not understand the “evolution in the understanding of matters of faith and morals”.

‘Speak His truth’

The Vatican has not commented on its inquiry into the Texas diocese, but Strickland previously said that two US bishops spent a week conducting interviews — including with him — about the situation there.

In a blog post in September, he addressed rumours that he would be asked to leave voluntarily.

“I cannot resign as bishop of Tyler because that would be me abandoning the flock” under his care, he wrote.

“I have also said that I will respect the authority of Pope Francis if he removes me from office as Bishop of Tyler.”

He added that he loved Jesus Christ and the Church, and “my only desire is to speak His truth and live God’s will to the best of my ability.”

Commentators say it is extremely rare for a bishop to be directly relieved of their position — but not unprecedented.

Francis dismissed a bishop in Puerto Rico, Daniel Fernandez Torres, in similar fashion in March 2022, with the Vatican again giving no reason.

Torres claimed he had been told he had not been “obedient” to the pope and did not have sufficiently good relationships with fellow bishops.

Media reports at the time noted he had supported those who refused compulsory coronavirus vaccinations.

In a statement published on Saturday, Cardinal DiNardo, who is also Archbishop of Galveston-Houston in Texas, explained the process with Strickland.

After the visit to the Tyler diocese, “the recommendation was made to the Holy Father that the continuation in office of Bishop Strickland was not feasible”, he said.

The decision to ask Strickland to resign — and ultimately dismiss him — followed “months of careful consideration”, he added.

There are more than 120,000 Catholics in the diocese of Tyler, out of a total population of more than 1.4 million people, according to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Source: AFP

We ended our previous section by pointing out that human brokenness, or existential wretchedness, could often time serve as the raw material thanks to which the need for God enters into the drama of human existence. As disheartening as the state of sin is, when we have the courage to turn to God, human sinfulness becomes a graced opportunity of encounter from which good fruits, such as patience with the faults of others; tolerance; a more understanding heart; a more God-like charity, the discovery of my dependence on God; et cetera, could ensure. Additionally, we pointed out that even from the midst of human misery, suffering and sin, God is never out of the picture, for the grace of the light of faith is enriched by the grace of the light of glory, albeit that, like Moses, we can only see God’s back and not his Face – that which we would have really loved to see!

As we intimated, the request for Moses to see the Face of God persisted throughout Israel’s history: It is your Face O Lord that I seek, do not hide your Face from me (Psalm 27:8-9). Moses’ quest remained unfulfilled and was kept as a promise of hope, hope for a future in which the greatest longing of the human heart would ultimately be met, in spite of human brokenness. In the Christian tradition, this sense of hope borne from the longing for God, what St Benedict referred to as the Quaerere Deum, has often resulted opening up a new perspective in terms of how we see the human being and the drama of sin in human existence. Augustine of Hippo captured this sense of hope borne from the midst of human sinfulness when he declares in his characteristic quotable fashion: every saint had a past; and every sinner has a future. In effect, the silver lining in my sinfulness is the hope that I can become different. I can become better. I can start all over at any point in time. The Lord is continuously calling me and never gives up on me to come work in his vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). In the final analysis, Christian hope reminds me that even my best can become better in Christ Jesus the Lord.

Returning to the figure of Moses, in Deuteronomy 18:15, we read: A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kindred; that is the one to whom you shall listen. And again, we read: I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kindred and will put my words into the mouth of the prophet; the prophet shall tell them all that I command. (Deuteronomy 18:17). As Ratzinger explains, a curious melancholy hangs over the conclusion of the Book of Deuteronomy: “The promise concerning ‘a prophet like me’ has not yet been fulfilled. And it now becomes clear that these words do not refer simply to the institution of prophecy, which in fact already existed, but to something different and far greater: the announcement of a new Moses. It had become evident that taking possession of the land in Palestine did not constitute the chosen people’s entry into salvation; that Israel was still awaiting its real liberation; that an even more radical kind of exodus was necessary, one that called for a new Moses.” (Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth, Vol. 1, p. 3). In effect, what is outstanding and enduring about the figure of Moses are not the mighty deeds performed, curial as these were to Israel’s liberation. What serves as the capstone of the life of Moses was him pointing to the face of God as that which ultimately meets the desires of the human heart, that which finally resolves the wedge between willing and willed, between desire and fulfillment, as explained by Maurice Blondel in his philosophy of human action.

In this light, the Deuteronomistic Promise thereby opens the door to the leitmotif of a new Moses that would finally unveil the Face of God to the world, bringing to realization the greatest longing of the human heart. This is the unfinished business of Moses that the new Moses had to accomplish. As Ratzinger again explains, “Israel is allowed to hope for a new Moses, who has yet to appear, but who will be raised up at the appropriate hour. And the characteristic of this ‘prophet’ will be that he converses with God face-to-face, as a friend does with a friend. His distinguishing note will be his immediate relation with God, which enables him to communicate God’s will and word firsthand and unadulterated. And that is the saving intervention which Israel – indeed, the whole of humanity – is waiting for.” (Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, Vol. I, 5). In this life, Moses, and together with him the faith of Israel, can only go so far, as far as seeing the back of God (Exodus 33:23). But as we pointed out in part two of this series, the human heart is not contented with the back of God. The human heart wants more. And herein arises the need for a new Moses.

This figure of a new Moses, thereby, sets the stage for that is genuinely novel and consummating, for the meeting of the more of the human heart. Anything less would not satisfy the greatest aspirations of the human heart. In this light, the new Moses must therefore be granted what was denied the first, if this new Moses is to resolve the impasse that characterizes human existence, the distraught that continues to mark human life. The new Moses must therefore be greater than the first Moses, capable of going beyond the back of God to the face of God. As Ratzinger further teaches, “this is the context in which we need to read the conclusion of the Prologue to John’s Gospel: ‘No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known’ (John 1:18). It is in Jesus that the promise of the new prophet is fulfilled. What was true of Moses only in fragmentary form has now been fully realized in the person of Jesus: He lives before the face of God, not just as a friend, but as a Son; he lives in the most intimate unity with the Father” (Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, 6).

At this point, it becomes obvious that the event of the Transfiguration as recorded in Mathew 17:1-13, take on a much more profound meaning for the Christian. While it is true that Jesus obviously wanted to strengthen the resolve of the apostles before the scandal of the Passion, it is likewise true, and even more so, that with the event of the Transfiguration especially when read via Jewish hermeneutics as embodied in the figures of Moses and Elijah, we are dealing with the zenith of Israel’s religious struggle, and hopefully, ours as well. (To be continued).

By Maurice Agbaw-Ebai

Pope Francis headed to Portugal on Wednesday to open the first post-pandemic edition of World Youth Day, hoping to inspire the next generation of Catholics.

More than 1 million young people from around the world were expected to attend the gathering in Lisbon, which takes place over several days. Busloads of pilgrims started arriving before Tuesday despite temperatures forecast to hit 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) by the weekend’s final papal Mass.

“Stay hydrated!” read a slogan promoted by the Portugal’s General Directorate for Health for the event. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa advised youth day volunteers Monday to keep with them “a lot of water, because it’s very hot, and a hat.”

Cardinal-elect Americo Aguiar, a Lisbon bishop who is organizing the festival, said two years of COVID-19 lockdowns made this year’s edition of World Youth Day unique. He said it was an important encounter for Catholic youths, especially with war raging now in Europe and economic uncertainties around the globe.

“The pope always says this event is the joy and the possibility of coming together, of the culture of coming together,” Aguiar said in an interview. “After such limitations and difficulties, young people from all over the world will be able to meet again, with certain freedom.”

Francis arrives Wednesday and is scheduled to spend the morning meeting with Portuguese officials at the Belem National Palace, the official presidential residence west of Lisbon, from where Portugal’s maritime explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries set sail.

In the afternoon, Francis makes his way to the 16th century Jeronimos Monastery and church, arguably Portugal’s greatest monument. There, he is set to meet with the Portuguese Catholic hierarchy, which recently began the process of reckoning with its legacy of clergy sexual abuse.

Meeting with sex abuse survivors

Francis is widely expected to meet in private with abuse survivors this week and could well refer to the problem in his public remarks, as he has done during past foreign trips. Portuguese bishops were widely criticized for their initial response to the findings of an independent commission, which reported in February that at least 4,815 boys and girls were abused in the country since 1950, most of them ages 10-14.

The bishops long insisted there were only a handful of cases, and they initially balked at suspending active members of the clergy who were named in the commission’s report. They also flip-flopped on paying reparations to victims, at first insisting they would only pay if ordered to by court rulings.

The Portuguese Catholic Church also promised in March to build a memorial to victims that would be unveiled during World Youth Day, but organizers scrapped the plan a few weeks ago.

In its place, victims’ advocates have launched a campaign called “This is our memorial” and plan to put up billboards around Lisbon this week reading “4,800+ Children Abused.”

St. John Paul II launched World Youth Day in the 1980s as a way to invigorate the next generation of Catholics in their faith, and the event is returning to European soil for the first time since 2016.

Ukrainian and Russian youths were expected to attend, and the war in Ukraine will likely take center stage Saturday when Francis visits Fatima, the Catholic shrine which for over a century has been associated with an apocalyptic prophecy about peace and Russia.

“I think World Youth Day brings hope, after the pandemic, after being locked down, not able to live our faith as we were used to, as we wished for,” Alfredo Hernandez, a World Youth Day volunteer from Guatemala, said. “The event gives a ray of hope to get out on the streets again.”

Coping with the heatwave

Hot weather could be an issue during the five-day visit, given temperatures in Lisbon are expected to hit 35 C (95 F) on Sunday. Many young people were expected to camp out in the vast, unshaded Tagus Park starting Saturday afternoon, first to participate in an evening vigil and then to be in place Sunday morning for Francis’ final Mass.

Organizers said they installed 32 water tanks with 640 taps for filling water bottles, while the Lisbon City Council says it doubled the number of drinking fountains in the city to around 400.

Registered participants are receiving reusable water bottles and sunhats in their welcome knapsacks, but some were more worried for Francis, given his weakened condition: The 86-year-old Argentine pope was hospitalized for nine days in June to repair a hernia and remove scar tissue from previous intestinal surgeries.

Francis, who travels with a doctor and nurse on his foreign trips, is likely to refer to the heat given his repeated alarm about climate change, including as recently as last week, when he urged action in the face of wildfires ravaging Greece.

“I’m going to pray that he is going to be OK,” Theresa Guettler, a nurse from Florida who is volunteering at the event, said. She recommended that Francis stay hydrated and follow his medical team’s advice. “I trust that he has good doctors and good people taking care of him.”

Source: AP

Pope Francis thanked those who have sent him get-well wishes following his hernia surgery, as the Vatican said Friday he was back at work from his hospital room.

“I sincerely appreciate the prayers and numerous expressions of closeness and affection received in the past few days,” the 86-year-old said on Twitter.

“I am praying for everyone, especially those who suffer. I ask you to keep me in your prayers,” he said.

Francis underwent a three-hour operation at the Gemelli hospital in Rome on Wednesday, and was said to be cheerful when he woke up.

The head of the Catholic Church had breakfast Friday before spending “most of the morning in an armchair” rather than in bed, the Vatican said.

“This allowed him to read the newspapers and start working again,” it said in a statement.

His post-operative recovery was proceeding as expected, it added.

Francis was continuing on a liquid diet and spent the afternoon at work and in prayer, it said later.

The pope was “touched by the many messages he continues to receive”, the Vatican press office said.

“In particular, he wishes to address his thoughts and thanks to the children currently in hospital, for the affection and love received through their drawings and messages,” it added.

On Thursday, the pope called to thank the mother of a little boy he had baptised while both the pope and the boy were being treated at the Gemelli at the end of March, after the family sent him a poster wishing him a speedy recovery.

At the time, the pope had been hospitalised for three nights with a respiratory infection, which was cured with antibiotics.

In July 2021, he also underwent surgery at the Gemelli for a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of small bulges or pockets that can develop in the lining of the intestine, spending 10 days in hospital.

This time, the pontiff had been suffering from a hernia on the site of a scar from a previous operation, his surgeon Sergio Alfieri told reporters after the operation on Wednesday.

He was placed under general anaesthesia and the abdominal wall was repaired with a surgical mesh, Alfieri said.

All papal audiences have been cancelled until June 18 to give the pontiff time to recover.

Francis has been head of the worldwide Catholic Church since 2013, when his predecessor Benedict XVI became the first pope since the Middle Ages to resign, citing his failing mental and physical health.

Source:  AFP

Pope Francis visited a Rome hospital for a medical check-up on Tuesday, according to Italian media, just over two months after he was hospitalised with bronchitis.

The 86-year-old pope arrived at the Gemelli hospital’s geriatric unit for tests at 10:40 am (0840 GMT) and left again at 11:20am, according to ANSA and AGI news agencies.

Neither the Vatican nor the hospital was immediately able to confirm the news to AFP.

Francis was forced to take a day off at the end of last month with a fever, which the Vatican secretary of state blamed on tiredness.

The pope does not have public audiences scheduled on Tuesdays. His general audience at the Vatican was confirmed for Wednesday, according his official schedule.

Tuesday’s check-up was a planned one, the Repubblica newspaper said, citing a Vatican source.

The pontiff was undergoing specialised scans, it said.

When Francis was hospitalised at the end of March the Vatican initially said in a one-line statement that he had gone into the Gemelli for health checks that were previously scheduled.

It later emerged that he had been rushed in after suffering breathing difficulties.

He was diagnosed with bronchitis and stayed in hospital for three nights, before returning to the Vatican to preside over Easter services.

Asked how he felt, he quipped with a big smile, “I am still alive!”

Francis, who has been the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics for a decade, has suffered increasing health issues over the past year.

He has persistent pain in his right knee as well as sciatica, and his hospital stay for bronchitis sparked widespread concern.

Just in time

It also fuelled speculation over his future.

Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, who died in December, quit in 2013 due to failing health.

For about a year, the pope has had to rely on a wheelchair due to recurring knee pain he has said cannot be treated through surgery.

Asked about his health in an interview with US Spanish-language network Telemundo broadcast in May, Francis said it was “much better”.

“I can walk now. My knee has been mending. I could hardly walk beforehand. Now I can. Some days are more painful than others,” the pope said.

Francis added that doctors had caught his bronchitis infection just in time.

“If we’d waited a few more hours, it would’ve been much more serious. But I was out (of hospital) in four days,” he said.

Despite his health issues, Francis continues to travel widely.

His next planned trip is to Lisbon on August 2-6 to attend World Youth Day.

But the pope acknowledged in July 2022 that he needed to slow down.

“At my age and with this limitation, I have to save myself a little bit to be able to serve the Church,” he said then.

“Or, alternatively, to think about the possibility of stepping aside.”

In March, however, he insisted that he had no current plans to quit.

Benedict XVI, who died on December 31 aged 95, surprised the world in 2013 when he announced he was stepping down, a radical move not taken by a pope since the Middle Ages.

Source: AFP

Pope Francis has a fever that caused him to clear his schedule on Friday morning, the Vatican said, nearly two months after the 86-year-old pontiff was hospitalised with bronchitis.

“Due to a feverish state, Pope Francis did not receive an audience this morning,” said Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, without giving more details.

It was unclear who the pope had been expected to meet with, as his agenda was not made public on Friday, as is customary.

The pope’s morning audiences are usually reserved for heads of states, associations and clerics, while his afternoons are devoted to work and private meetings.

On Thursday, he had eight meetings on his published schedule.

Francis, who has been the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics for a decade, has suffered increasing health issues over the past year, from persistent knee pain to his recent hospital stay for bronchitis.

The episodes have sparked widespread concern and fuelled speculation that he might choose to retire rather than stay in the job for life, a choice made by his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

In late March, Francis was admitted to hospital in Rome after having breathing difficulties, and stayed for three nights.

He was treated with antibiotics for bronchitis.

As he left the Gemelli Hospital on April 1, the pope smiled and joked with well-wishers, quipping: “I am still alive!”

He went on to participate in Holy Week and Easter services, the most important week in the Christian calendar.

Good days, bad days

For about a year, the pope has had to rely on a wheelchair due to recurring pain in his knee that he has said cannot be treated through surgery.

Asked about his health in an interview with US Spanish-language network Telemundo broadcast on Thursday, Francis said it was “much better”.

“I can walk now. My knee has been mending. I could hardly walk beforehand, now I can. Some days are more painful than others, like today,” the pope said.

Francis added that doctors had caught his bronchitis infection just in time.

“If we’d waited a few more hours, it would’ve been much more serious. But I was out (of the hospital) in four days,” he said.

Despite his health issues, Francis continues to travel widely, and concluded a three-day visit to Hungary earlier this month.

His next planned trip is to Lisbon from August 2-6 to attend World Youth Day, the Vatican announced on Monday.

The pope acknowledged last July, however, that he needed to slow down.

“At my age and with this limitation, I have to save myself a little bit to be able to serve the Church,” he said then.

“Or, alternatively, to think about the possibility of stepping aside.”

In March, however, he insisted that he had no current plans to quit.

Benedict XVI, who died on December 31 aged 95, surprised the world in 2013 when he announced he was stepping down, a radical move not seen since the Middle Ages.

Source: AFP

Pope Francis, starting a trip to Hungary, on Friday pointedly warned of the dangers of rising nationalism in Europe and told the Budapest government that accepting migrants along with the rest of the continent would be a true sign of Christianity.

In a hard-hitting speech to government leaders including Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has had a series of run-ins with the European Union, Francis also urged a rejection of “self-referential forms of populism” and strictly nationalist interests.

He called for a return to the “European spirit” envisioned by the founders of modern Europe after World War Two, saying nations had to “look beyond national boundaries”.

Speaking on the day that Russia hit Ukraine with the first large-scale air strikes in nearly two months, Francis made another appeal for an end to the war there, calling for “creative efforts for peace” to drown out those he called “soloists of war”.

The three-day visit is his first trip since he was admitted to hospital for bronchitis in March.

Looking cheerful, Francis, who has a knee ailment, used a cane to walk by welcoming dignitaries and children in national dress at the airport. In recent arrivals, he used a wheelchair.

Asked by reporters about his health on the flight from Rome, the pope joked, saying “I’m still alive” and “stubborn weeds never die”.

He also walked with a cane to greet journalists individually in their section of the plane whereas on some recent trips he remained seated and the journalists went to him.

Francis is keeping a promise of an official visit to Hungary after a stop of only seven hours to close a Church congress in Budapest in 2021 on his way to Slovakia left many feeling slighted.

Orban 59, and the pope have differing views on handling migration from the Middle East and Africa to Europe, with Francis believing migrants fleeing poverty should be welcomed.

Orban, whose government built a steel fence on the border with Serbia to keep out migrants, has refused to let Hungary be transformed into an “immigrant country” like he says others in Europe have become.

He asked Francis in 2021, during the pope’s last visit, “not to let Christian Hungary perish”.

In his speech in the presidential palace overlooking the River Danube, Francis quoted St Stephen, the 11th century founder of Christian Hungary.

“Those who profess themselves Christian, in the company of the witnesses of faith, are called to bear witness to and to join forces with everyone in cultivating a humanism inspired by the Gospel and moving along two fundamental tracks: acknowledging ourselves to be beloved children of the Father and loving one another as brothers and sisters,” Francis said.

“In this regard, Saint Stephen bequeathed to his son extraordinary words of fraternity when he told him that those who arrive with different languages and customs ‘adorn the country,'”, Francis said, quoting the saint’s command to ‘welcome strangers with benevolence and to hold them in esteem’.

Source: Reuters