Pope Francis to visit Hungary in April

Pope Francis will visit Hungary between April 28 and 30, the Holy See said on Monday.

“I was happy to hear that Pope Francis accepted my invitation and will visit Hungary,” the Sándor Palace cited President Katalin Novák as saying in a statement.

The three-day “apostolic journey”, the pontiff’s 41st visit abroad since he was elected in 2013, will include meetings with Hungary’s heads of state and government on Friday, the Vatican said.

According to the programme of the visit published on katolikus.hu, Francis will also address state dignitaries in the prime minister’s offices in the Buda Castle.

He will meet bishops, priests, monks, seminarists and other religious officials in Budapest’s St Stephen’s Basilica on the same day.

On Saturday, the pontiff is scheduled to meet young people in the Papp László Arena, and people in need and refugees in a downtown church.