Pope in final Mass in Budapest urges Hungary to open doors to migrants

Pope Francis has called on Hungarians to be "open" toward migrants, as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the central European country whose nationalist premier has taken a staunch anti-immigration stance.

Tens of thousands thronged a central Budapest square on Sunday to hear the pope lead an open-air Mass during which he urged all, including "those with political and social responsibilities", to be more open.

"Let us encourage one another to be increasingly open doors," the 86-year-old Argentine pontiff said, adding it was "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," he said.

Throughout his visit to Budapest - his second since a brief 2021 stopover - Francis has emphasised a welcoming stance towards those fleeing poverty or conflict zones.

The comments have stood in stark contrast to those of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban who has regularly espoused anti-migration rhetoric to defend a "Christian Europe" since coming to power in 2010.

Orban's government has welcomed those fleeing the war in Ukraine, which borders Hungary. But activists say there is barely a support system in place and Orban's insistence on maintaining ties with Moscow has also alienated Ukrainians.

Busy schedule in Hungary visit

Some 50,000 people thronged to hear the pope say Mass on Saturday under tight security at Kossuth Lajos Square, behind the parliament on the banks of the Danube, according to local authorities.

Francis also gave a speech on Saturday to refugees - mostly from neighbouring Ukraine - and poor people at a Budapest church .

On the same day, Francis met Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony, a staunch Orban opponent. He also met with bishop Hilarion, who was ousted as head of the Russian church's department for external relations by Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Kirill, a staunch Kremlin backer.

Francis will deliver his trip's last speech on Sunday at 1400 GMT at a private Catholic university in Budapest.

Francis' 41st international trip since becoming pope in 2013 comes a month after he was hospitalised for three months for bronchitis, so all eyes have been on the pontiff's health.

But despite persistent knee pain forcing him to move around in a wheelchair, the pope has appeared to be in good shape.

John Paul II was the first pope to visit Hungary, making trips in 1991 and 1996.