Pope
Francis has arrived in Hungary's capital Budapest on a short stop that
will take in a meeting with populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The
meeting is expected to highlight differences between the pontiff's
views and Mr Orban's nationalist and anti-immigrant policies.
The Pope will then spend three days in Slovakia, where he will meet members of the Jewish and Roma communities.
It is his first international trip since surgery earlier this year.
The Pope has previously criticised political leaders
who tried to erect barriers to keep migrants out, and in 2019 donated
money to help migrants in Mexico seeking to reach the US border.
In Budapest the Pope will also take Mass as part of a week-long Catholic event in the city.
Tens
of thousands of Christians from around the world have attended the
Eucharistic Congress in Budapest in the past week, and the presence of
Pope Francis in Heroes Square will be the climax of their gathering.
His meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Orban is more controversial.
While
the Pope, from the start of his papacy, has emphasised the need to
welcome and care for refugees from war and violence, whatever their
faith, the Hungarian prime minister is a champion of keeping those he
describes as "illegal migrants", and especially Muslims, out of Europe.
Mr
Orban's Fidesz government also stands up for persecuted Christians
around the world - an issue on which the two men might find more common
ground.
Meanwhile
in Slovakia his visit aims to improve Catholic-Jewish relations. He
will meet members of the Jewish community including Holocaust survivors
in Rybne Square, a traditionally Jewish part of the capital Bratislava.
During
World War Two tens of thousands of Jews were deported from Slovakia to
concentration camps under the orders of a Nazi puppet regime headed by a
Catholic priest.
Francis
has visited dozens of countries since he became pope in 2013, although
his travels have recently been affected by the spread of coronavirus.
Earlier
this year, he made a historic four-day trip to Iraq, the first ever by a
pope, during which he visited areas once held by Islamic State (IS)
militants.
