The Pope’s Visit Continues with Meetings with Refugees and Disabled Children

Pope Francis paid a private visit to the Blessed László Batthyány-Strattmann Home on Saturday morning. In his address, the Holy Father stressed that embracing reality is the way of the Gospel.

The Pope met with blind, partially sighted and multiply handicapped children at the home, where the papal yellow and white flag was displayed and the inscription “Welcome to the Holy Father” was hung on the side of the building.
The Pope presented the children with a rosary and then gave a speech. “Thank you very much for the tenderness with which you have welcomed me here. Thank you for your songs, your gestures, your eyes. I thank you, Mr. Director, for having begun this meeting with the prayer of Saint Francis,” said the Holy Pope Francis stressed that

it is much easier to assimilate different ideas and ideologies than to embrace reality as it is, yet the latter is the “way of the Gospel.”

“This is the way of Jesus Christ, and this is the way that you, Mr. Director, wanted to express in the prayer of St. Francis at the beginning. I thank you all!”, the Holy Father concluded his homily, and then the Lord’s Prayer was recited in Latin with the children present and the staff of the Home.

We need a Church that speaks fluently the language of active love, Pope Francis stressed Later on in Budapest, in the Church of St. Elisabeth in Rózsák Square, where he met with Hungarian Catholic Church aid organizations, refugees and the poor. The Catholic Church leader thanked the Hungarian Church for its commitment to active charity, and expressed gratitude for the generous and enthusiastic welcome of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.

He stressed that the poor and needy are at the heart of the Gospel, because Jesus came to “bring good news to the poor”. This presents us with an exciting challenge, so that “the faith we profess does not become a prisoner of an alien cult” and a victim of “spiritual egoism”, he said. True faith is “uncomfortable”, “takes risks”, “goes out into the world to meet the poor and enables us to speak the language of love with our own lives”, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis then met with the Greek Catholic community on Saturday morning at the Church of the Mother of God in Rozsak Square, Budapest. In his welcome address, the Greek Catholic Archbishop-Metropolitan of Hajdúdorog, Philip Kocsis, said: “Two churches stand side by side, two communities, Roman and Greek Catholic, live side by side. The parish and the parish come together, our community life comes together. We received this church from our Roman Catholic brothers a good 120 years ago,” he added.

He added: “Therefore, no one can doubt that, while we try to remain faithful to our Eastern roots, we do not want to separate ourselves, but to be a bridge between the two sister churches, because we belong to both in some way,” he said. The metropolitan archbishop stressed that the Pope’s visit was a “tremendous confirmation” that they are equal members of the Catholic Church and pledged to be bearers and builders of unity in their ecclesial life while seeking and proclaiming Christ. Above all, they wish to work for this through fervent prayer, which they consider their main duty and opportunity, “so that we may give life to the Mystical Body”.

After the prayer, Pope Francis put on the golden Greek Catholic stole (epitrachelion) and blessed those present. The Pope then walked to the entrance of the church, accompanied by the singing of the faithful, stopping and talking to the faithful. He left the church in a wheelchair. People gathered in Rose Square sang as the Pope left.

Featured Photo: MTI/Máthé Zoltán