Pope Francis in Budapest for the 1st leg of Apostolic Visit

By Vatican News staff writer

Pope Francis has entrusted this apostolic visit to the heart to the intercession of “so many heroic confessors of the Faith” who in Hungary and Slovakia witnessed to the Gospel "amid hostility and persecution."

The Pope arrived at Budapest’s international airport spot on time to be welcomed by the Apostolic Nuncio to Hungary, Archbishop Michael Blume and by the Hungarian Ambassador to the Holy See, Eduard Habsburg-Lothringen, who boarded the plane.

Awaiting him on the tarmac was the Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary and two children dressed in traditional costumes.

Before presiding at the closing Mass of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress, the Pope will be received in private audience by the nation’s President, János Áder, and by the Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán.

These meetings took place in Budapest’s Museum of Fine Arts, where he will later meet with the Hungarian Bishops.

Later in the afternoon, Pope Francis travels to Slovakia, which will bring the number of countries he has visited since the beginning of his Pontificate to 54.