Despite their differences, Pope Francis and Viktor Orban
are the only European heads of state trying to end the Russia–Ukraine war.
Rod Dreher / The American Conservative
May 1, 2023
https://www.theamericanconservative.com ... n-hungary/
.. So why did he come now? Clearly Francis intended to make a statement with this visit, which entailed significant physical sacrifice for him. From the Hungarian point of view, that statement was:
Peace.
That is, Francis’s choice to come to Hungary now, despite his poor health and his deep-seated opposition to Hungary’s migration stance, conveys how passionate the pontiff is to see an end to the ruinous Russia–Ukraine war. The Holy See and Hungary have found common cause as the only European states pushing for peace. The Orban government regards the papal pilgrimage as a sign of support for its repeated appeals for a cease-fire and a negotiated end to hostilities. ..
.. Budapest is normally sleepy on Sunday mornings, but the streets of the Hungarian capital swarmed yesterday with Catholics streaming to the vast Kossuth Square in front of Hungary’s impressive parliament building for the outdoor papal mass. An estimated 50,000 gathered near the Danube’s banks, under a warm spring sun, for the liturgy. The Calvinist president, the Calvinist prime minister, the Russian archbishop, as well as other Protestant and Jewish leaders were also in the crowd.
In his homily, the pontiff once again urged Hungarians to open themselves to migrants, and once again called for an end to war.
In a prayer addressing the Virgin Mary, Francis begged her to “look especially at the neighboring, tormented Ukrainian and Russian people, your peoples dedicated to you.” This was a poignant acknowledgment that both the Catholics of Ukraine, and the Orthodox of Ukraine and Russia, look to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as their mother too.
“You, who are the Queen of Peace, pour into the hearts of people and the leaders of nations the desire to build peace,” prayed Francis, “to offer future generations a future of hope, not war; a future full of cradles and not graves; a world full of brothers and not walls.”
247 pages+counting / “Russia Invades Ukraine 2022”
viewtopic.php?t=4584
^^Not much discussion of peace, prayers for peace, or even resolution, in 247 pages. (Whether or not in Mary’s name.)
