Sawt Falasteen - Pope during Hungary visit urges recovery of 'European spirit'

The pontiff arrived in Hungary Friday for a three-day visit, which kicked off with a meeting with nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose views often clash with his own.

The 86-year-old Argentine will only stay in the capital Budapest during his trip due to his fragile health, a month after being hospitalised for bronchitis.

"It is vital, then, to recover the European spirit," the pope said during a speech, attended by Orban together with other dignitaries, diplomats and members of civil society, as he warned against a "kind of adolescent belligerence".

- 'Path of peace' -

The pope arrived just before 10:00 am (0800 GMT) in the Hungarian capital, where key roads have been blocked for days as part of a major security operation surrounding the visit.

After being received at the presidential palace by President Katalin Novak, Francis met Orban.

Live footage of the visit showed the two men greeting each other with a handshake.

"Without Christianity, Hungary would not exist today... Hungary has a future if it stays on the Christian path, and the Christian path is the path of peace today," Orban said at the meeting according to national news agency MTI.

On the war in Ukraine, both men have called for peace talks, with Orban an exception in the EU in insisting on maintaining ties with Moscow.

But their views differ on migration.

In power since 2010, the Hungarian premier regularly espouses anti-migration rhetoric to defend a "Christian Europe".

This is at odds with the pontiff's more welcoming stance towards those fleeing poverty or conflict zones.

In his speech, the pope emphasised "the need for openness towards others", warning against "withdrawing into oneself".

- 'World's attention' -

Zoltan Kiszelly, the head of pro-government think tank Szazadveg, said Orban would use the pope's visit to emphasise shared "traditional values around family and God".

"Domestically, Orban can profit from this visit," Kiszelly said.

Laszlo Temesi, a retired journalist who was among those lining the streets to try to catch a glimpse of the pontiff, said he was "happy" that "the world's attention is on Hungary".

"This country has a slightly negative image... perhaps it will be a little positive now," he told AFP.

Francis last made a brief stopover in 2021 in Hungary -- where 39 percent of the population is Catholic.

On Friday afternoon, the pope will meet local bishops and clergy at St Stephen's Basilica, where giant screens set up in the square will transmit his speech live to the public.

While in Budapest, Francis will as usual be accompanied by his doctor.

Last month he spent three nights in hospital with bronchitis, fuelling concerns about his long-term health and future as head of the worldwide Catholic Church.

On his 41st international trip since becoming pope in 2013, Francis plans to meet young people, local church members and representatives of the academic and cultural sectors, and will hold an open-air mass on Sunday.

On Saturday, the pope will also meet Ukrainian refugees.

During an audience last year at the Vatican, Francis thanked Orban -- who comes from a Calvinist background -- for welcoming Ukrainians fleeing the war across the border.

In a society where family and gender rights are hot political issues, pro-Orban media have criticised the pope in the past for being too favourable to migrants and the LGBTQ community.

In his speech on Friday, the pope spoke against "'ideological colonisation'... as in the case of the so-called gender theory, or... by vaunting as progress a senseless 'right to abortion'."

Francis is the second pope to visit Hungary, after John Paul II made trips in 1991 and 1996.

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I.Matar--SF-PST