2023-04-30 21:20:00
April 30, 2023 / 2:20 p.m.
This Sunday Pope Francis returned to Rome after a three-day visit to Hungary and, as usual, gave a press conference to the journalists who accompanied him on the flight, with whom he talked about migration to Europe, the war in Ukraine, the decline in birth rates in various countries, among other issues.
Below is the Spanish text of the press conference released by Vatican News:
Antal Hubai (Rtl Club): What is your personal experience of the encounters in Hungary?
Pope Francisco: I had a first experience of encounters in the sixties. When many Hungarian Jesuits had been expelled from their country. Then they came from the schools… a school twenty kilometers from Buenos Aires and I visited it twice a month. Then I also got in touch with a company of Hungarian laymen who worked in Buenos Aires. I didn’t understand the language. But I understood two words well: Gulash and Tokai (laughs). It was a beautiful experience. I was very affected by the pain of being refugees and not being able to return home. The nuns of Maximiliano María Kolbe stayed there, hiding in apartments so that the regime would not throw them out. Then I found out more about the whole matter to convince Cardinal Mindszenty to come to Rome. And I also lived through the brief enthusiasm of ’56 and then the disappointment.
Antal Hubai: Has your opinion changed since then?
Pope Francisco: It hasn’t changed; has grown rich. In the sense that the Hungarians I have met have a great culture…
Antal Hubai: What language did they speak?
Pope Francisco: They usually spoke German or English. Hungarian is not spoken outside of Hungary. Only in Paradise, because they say it takes forever to learn (laughs).
Eliana Ruggiero (Time.news): Holy Father, you launched an appeal to open – reopen – the doors of our egoism to the poor, to migrants, to those who are out of order. In your meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán, did you ask him to reopen the borders of the Balkan route that he has closed? Then, in the last few days, you also met with Metropolitan Hilarion: can Hilarion and Orbán himself become channels of opening towards Moscow to speed up a peace process for Ukraine, or make possible a meeting between you and President Putin? Thank you.
Pope Francisco: I believe that peace is always made by opening channels, peace can never be made by closing. I invite everyone to open relationships, channels of friendship… This is not easy. The same speech that I have made in general, I have done with Orbán and I have done it a little everywhere. About migration: I think it is a problem that Europe should take into its own hands, because there are five countries that suffer the most: Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Italy, Spain, because they are the Mediterranean countries and the majority land there. And if Europe does not take charge of this, of a fair distribution of immigrants, the problem will only be in these countries. I think that Europe should make people feel that it is the European Union even in the face of this. There is another problem that is related to migration, and that is the birth rate. There are countries like Italy and Spain that do not have … children. Lately… last year I talked about this at a family meeting and lately I’ve seen the government and other governments talk about it too. The average age in Italy is 46 years, in Spain it is even higher and there are small deserted towns. A migration program, but well carried out with the model that some countries have had with migration -I am thinking, for example, of Sweden at the time of the Latin American dictatorships- can also help these countries that have a low birth rate. So, in the end, what was the last one? Oh yes, Hilarion: Hilarion is someone I respect a lot, and we’ve always had a good relationship. He was kind enough to come to see me, then he went to Mass and I also saw him here at the airport. Hilarion is an intelligent person with whom you can talk, and you have to maintain these relationships, because if we talk about ecumenism – I like this, I don’t like this… – we must have our hand outstretched with everyone, even receive the hand [de ellos…]. I have only spoken to Patriarch Kirill once since the war began, 40 minutes to get closer, then through Antonio, who is now in Hilarion’s place, who comes to see me: he is a bishop who was a parish priest in Rome and knows good atmosphere, and always through it I am in connection with Kirill. There is a meeting that we were going to have in Jerusalem in July or June of last year, but it was canceled because of the war: it will have to be done. And then, with the Russians I have a good relationship with the ambassador who is now leaving, ambassador for seven years in the Vatican, he is a great man, a man comme il faut. A serious, educated, very balanced person. The relationship with the Russians is mainly with this ambassador. I don’t know if I’ve said it all. That was it? Or have I eaten something?
Eliana Ruggiero: If Hilarion and also Orbán could somehow accelerate the peace process in Ukraine and also make possible a meeting between you and Putin, if they can act -in quotes- as intermediaries.
Pope Francisco: You imagine that in this meeting we don’t just talk about Little Red Hood, right? We talk about all these things. This has been discussed because we are all interested in the path of peace. I am willing. I’m willing to do whatever needs to be done. Also, there is now a quest going on, but it’s not public yet. Let’s see how… When it’s public I’ll tell it.
Aura María Vistas Miguel (Radio Renascença): The next stage is Lisbon, how is your health? She took us by surprise when she went to the hospital. You said that she passed out. Do you feel energetic to go to WYD? And would you like an event with a young Ukrainian and Russian as a sign for the new generations?
Pope Francisco: First of all, health. What I had was a strong malaise at the end of the hearing on Wednesday, I didn’t feel like eating, I lay down a bit, I didn’t lose consciousness, but I did have a very high fever and at three in the afternoon the doctor took me immediately to hospital. I had severe acute pneumonia, in the lower part of the lung, thank God I can tell you, to such an extent that the organism, the body, responded well. Thank God. This is what I had.
About Lisbon: the day before leaving I spoke with Monsignor Américo (Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar, Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon and president of the WYD 2023 Foundation, ndr) who came to see how things are there, I’ll go, I’ll go. I hope to do it, you see that it is not the same as two years ago, with the cane, now it is better, for the moment the trip is not cancelled. Then there is the trip to Marseille, then there is the trip to Mongolia, then there is the last one that I don’t remember where… even the program keeps me moving.
Aura Maria Views Miguel: And about the youth of Russia and Ukraine?
Pope Francisco: Américo has something in mind, he is preparing something, he has told me. He is preparing it well.
Nicole Winfield (Associated Press): Holy Father, I wanted to ask you something a little different: you recently made a very strong ecumenical gesture, you donated three fragments of the Parthenon sculptures to Greece, from the Vatican Museums. This gesture has also had an echo outside the orthodox world, because many museums in the West are debating precisely the return of the colonial period, as an act of justice towards these peoples. I wanted to ask you if you are also available for other restitutions, I am thinking of the indigenous peoples and groups in Canada who have requested the return of objects from the Vatican collections, as part of the reparation process for damage suffered during the colonial period.
Pope Francisco: But this is the seventh commandment: if you have stolen, you must pay back. But, there is a whole story, that sometimes wars and colonization lead to making the decision to take the good from others. This was a fair gesture, it had to be done: the Parthenon, give something. And if the Egyptians come tomorrow and ask for the obelisk, what will we do? But there you have to make a discernment, in any case. And then the restitution of indigenous things is underway, with Canada, at least we agreed to do it. Now I’ll ask how it goes. But the experience with the aborigines in Canada has been very fruitful. Even in the United States, the Jesuits are doing something with that group of indigenous people within the United States. The general told me the other day. But back to the restitution. To the extent that it can be restored, that it is necessary, that it is a gesture, that it is… better to do it. Sometimes it is not possible, there is no political, real, concrete possibility. But to the extent that you can give back, please do; it is good for everyone. Do not get used to putting your hand in the pocket of others.
Eva Fernandez (Radio COPE): The Ukrainian prime minister has asked her for help in bringing back the children, taken by force to Russia. Have you thought about helping him?
Pope Francisco: I think so because the Holy See has acted as an intermediary in some prisoner exchange situations, and through the embassy it went well, I think this can also go well. It is important, the Holy See is willing to do it because it is fair, it is a fair thing and we must help, so that this is not a casus belli, but a human case. It is a problem of humanity rather than a problem of the spoils of war or the transfer of war. All human gestures help, but cruel gestures do not help. We must do everything humanly possible.
I also think, I want to say, of the women who come to our countries: Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary, so many women who come with children and husbands, or are wives… or are fighting in the war. It is true that right now they are being helped, but we must not lose enthusiasm for doing so, because if enthusiasm wanes, these women are left without protection, with the danger of falling into the hands of the vultures that are always looking for these situations. Let’s be careful not to lose this tension of help that we have for the refugees, this concerns everyone.
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