Pope Francis arrived in Hungary early on Sunday, starting an unusually short stay that underlines differences with his political opposite, nationalist and anti-immigrant Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Francis, 84, who is spending only seven hours in the capital Budapest, went directly from the airport to a private meeting with Orban and President Janos Ader in the Museum of Fine Arts.
Orban posted a picture on his Facebook page of him shaking the pope's hand standing before Hungarian and Vatican flags, with the comment: "I asked Pope Francis not to let Christian Hungary perish." Orban has often said that Hungary's Christian identity was being threatened by Muslim immigration. The brevity of his Budapest stay has prompted diplomats and Catholic media to suggest the pope is giving priority to Slovakia, in effect snubbing Hungary.The Vatican has called the Budapest visit a "spiritual pilgrimage". Orban’s office has said comparisons with the Slovakia leg would be "misleading".
The pope has called for migrants to be welcomed and integrated to tackle what he has called Europe's "demographic winter". Orban said in Slovenia that today's migrants "are all Muslims" and that only "the traditional Christian family policy can help us out of that demographic crisis."
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