Pope Francis on Sunday called on Hungarians to be open toward migrants as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the country.
The appeal – a blatant contrast to Hungary's veteran leader Viktor Orban – came during an open-air mass attended by 50,000 people in Kossuth Lajos Square in Budapest.
"Let us encourage one another to be increasingly open doors," the 86-year-old Argentine pontiff said.
"It is sad and painful ... to see closed doors.
"The closed doors of our selfishness with regard to others ... the doors we close towards those who are foreign or unlike us, towards migrants or the poor."
Orban, who was elected to a fourth term in April 2022, has espoused anti-migration rhetoric to defend what he calls a Christian Europe since coming to power in 2010.
Throughout his visit to a country where nearly 40 percent of the 9.7 million inhabitants say they are Catholics, the Pope has emphasised that he wants a welcoming attitude towards those fleeing poverty or conflict zones.
Comfort
On Saturday, Pope Francis gave a speech to refugees – mostly from neighbouring Ukraine – and poor people at a Budapest church.
Orban's government has welcomed those fleeing the war in Ukraine, which borders Hungary. But social welfare activists say there is barely a support system in place and Orban's insistence on maintaining ties with Moscow has also alienated Ukrainians.
On Saturday, Pope Francis met Gergely Karacsony, the mayor of Budapest and one of Orban's main political opponents.
He also held brief talks with Bishop Hilarion, who was ousted as head of the Russian church's department for external relations by the Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Kirill, a staunch Kremlin backer.
The Pope will deliver a speech at a private Catholic university in Budapest before returning to Rome.
