During his first post-operative trip, Pope Francis will meet Viktor Orbán in Hungary, then continue in Slovakia.

Pope Francis visits Budapest this Sunday, where there will only be a few hours left for close the Eucharistic Congress then it will go to Slovakia, or one intense schedule on your first trip after colon surgery Last July.

The Pope explained in a recent interview with Spanish radio TO COPE What 33 centimeters of intestine were removed and that he was still taking medication, but that he was very good; and even joked that while he would try to make the trip a little bit exhausting, “in the end it will be like everyone else.”

And so it will be. The 34th voyage of the pope, with whom you will have already visited 54 countries, will start in Budapest, where it will only spend seven hours, then it will move to Bratislava, so Francisco – who will leave Rome at 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT) – will have a intense day of almost 13 hours without interruption, one of the longest of all his international trips.

Asked about the sanitary measures planned during the trip, due to the recent operation, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni replied: “There are no specific measures: the usual precaution. As always, there is a doctor and a nurse on board ”.

“Spiritual visit” in Budapest and meeting with Orban

As the Vatican has called it, this is not a trip to Hungary but a “Spiritual visit” on the occasion of the closing of the International Eucharistic Congress, held in the Hungarian capital.

A circumstance that revealed the differences between the Pope and the government of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, in particular as regards the reception of immigration. Therefore, there will be no speech to the authorities, but the first meeting between François and the Hungarian president which aroused great interest.

Before the celebration of mass in the Place des Héros, where they wait near 100,000 people without any type of health measures in the face of the pandemic, Francisco will meet Orbán and the Hungarian President, János Áder, at the Museum of Fine Arts. Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin will also be present.

The only speech planned in Budapest, apart from the homily at mass, will be delivered a little later during the meeting with the rRepresentatives of the World Council of Churches and of certain Jewish communities in Hungary.

Slovakia, remembrance of communism and the Nazi invasion

After spending seven hours in Hungary, you will be transferred to the airport to leave immediately for Bratislava and begin the official program of what a visit to the country is.

On Monday, the official welcoming ceremony will take place at the Presidential Palace and courtesy visit to the President, Zuzana Caputova, a 48-year-old environmental lawyer, the first woman to become head of state in this country of 5.5 million inhabitants, 62% of whom declare themselves Catholic, and who share with the Pope his commitment to the defense of the environment.

Francisco will then go to the Cathedral of San Martín, where will recall the sufferings of Catholics during the communist regime when “bishops, priests, nuns, laity were imprisoned, tortured, martyred and priests were secretly ordained in the factories where they worked”Bruni stepped forward.

Also in Bratislava you will visit the “Bethlehem Center” managed by the Missionaries of Charity who welcome the homeless and the most vulnerable in the country and will respond to Jewish community in Rybné námestie square, at the site of the Neolog synagogue.

“Equally important in this papal visit will be the meeting with Jewish communities, also heirs of a long history of suffering aggravated by deportations after the Nazi occupation, which reduced to 20,000 people a community which previously numbered 246,000“Said the spokesperson.

Tuesday the pontiff will visit Kosice, the second largest city in the country, where it will celebrate the Divine Byzantine Liturgy and in the afternoon you will visit the district of Lunik IX, on the outskirts of the city, where more than 4,000 Roma in a state of total precariousness, in what is known as the largest gypsy ghetto in Europe.

At the Lokomotiva stadium in Kosice, he will greet all the young Catholics of Slovakia and on the last day of the trip, he will go to Sastin for a moment of prayer at the shrine dedicated to the Lady of the Seven Sorrows.

So far, the registration of participants in all of these events has been low, which some media in the country say attributed to a conservative Catholicism who is not attracted to the figure of Pope Francis, but also weighed that only vaccinated people can access events while only 49.5% of adults are fully immunized.

That is why, a few days ago, it was decided revoke this decision and it can also be viewed with a negative test or certificate of having contracted COVID-19.

(With information from EFE)

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