ROME — Pope Francis met privately with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the Vatican Thursday, honoring him with a St. Martin medallion for Hungary’s generous reception of Ukrainian refugees.
“We are conducting the largest humanitarian operation of all time, for which we are receiving recognition and respect the world over,” Mr. Orbán said after the meeting, adding that the pope had “encouraged us not to give up this good habit of ours.”
Since Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Hungary has taken in 640,000 Ukrainian refugees, more than any other country in the world as a percentage of its population.
The 40-minute meeting was cordial and friendly and before parting, the pope told Orbán in English, “May God bless you, your family, and Hungary.”
For his part, Orbán said he had officially invited Francis to visit Hungary next year, adding that he had received “an encouraging response.” On taking his leave from the pontiff, Orbán said to him, “Your Holiness, we are waiting for you.”
Commenting on the meeting with public media, the prime minister noted a convergence between Hungary and the Vatican on the importance of family.
“All of us here in Rome, in the Vatican and in Budapest think that the family is the most important community of our times,” Orbán said. “The last refuge and the safest harbor for man in this modern world is the family. This is why we must mobilize all our efforts to protect and strengthen this most important human community in our modern age, and we can count on the Holy Father in this endeavor.”
This was the second meeting between the two leaders in less than a year after Francis visited Orbán in Budapest last September. Despite mainstream media predictions that the meeting would be fraught with friction, their conversation proved to be “sincere, easy, and direct” with “no moment of tension or awkward silences,” according to inside reports.
In describing the encounter, the prime minister said Francis had urged him to continue his fight for the traditional family.
“The Holy Father made it clear that the fight we are waging to protect families is the most important struggle with regard to the future of Europe,” Orbán stated, adding that the pope had “reaffirmed” him in his efforts.
Francis “sees that there are great forces at work, especially in Brussels,” Orbán said, “and he spoke as firmly as I have perhaps never been able to. He said that relativization of the family must not be allowed.”
The prime minister also stressed that the pope had been “straight and tough” in saying that the traditional family cannot be diluted, insisting that families are formed by “mother, father and child; full stop.”
Hungary has shone among European nations for its effective efforts to address the widespread demographic crisis, enacting pro-family policies that have countered the “demographic winter” that Pope Francis often criticizes.
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