The Prime Minister – whose first official visit after the elections took him to Rome – added that he had “followed a great Hungarian tradition” by accepting the Holy Father’s invitation first after their election victory.
He highlighted that the war lends this special significance as the Holy Father is known for using all his influence for peace, and Hungary, too, takes the view that peace should be restored within the shortest possible time.
In answer to a question, Mr Orbán said at the meeting he had officially invited Pope Francis to a visit to Hungary in the year ahead, in response to which he received – in his words – “an encouragingly positive answer”.
According to the Prime Minister, they also discussed the fact that Hungary had taken in the highest number of refugees from Ukraine in relation to its population – 640,000 to date – and had even taken in the students who were not Ukrainian, but had studied in Ukraine and would now probably be able to continue their studies in Hungary.
“We are conducting the biggest humanitarian campaign of all time. This commands recognition and respect everywhere in the world,” the Prime Minister stressed, adding that the Holy Father himself mentioned this and encouraged us “not to abandon this good habit of ours”.
Mr Orbán took the view that a country fosters spiritual relations with the Vatican, rather than political ones. He added that the most important agreement had developed between the Vatican and the Hungarian State on the issue of families.
“We all believe here in Rome – both in the Vatican and in Budapest – that the family is the single most important community of our time. This is the final refuge and the final shelter for the modern man, and so we must mobilise all our resources in order to protect and strengthen this community – the most important human community of the modern era – and in this we can count on the Holy Father,” Mr Orbán said.
