Pope Francis greets Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest, Sept. 12, 2021. / Vatican Media/ EWTN.
Rome Newsroom, Sep 12, 2021 / 02:30 am (CNA).
Pope Francis arrived Sunday morning in Hungary, where he met briefly with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The pope’s arrival in Budapest on Sept. 12 marks the 84-year-old pontiff’s first international trip since his colon surgery in July.
📹 VIDEO | Pope Francis arrived in Budapest, Hungary, for a 7-hour visit. He will preside over the final Mass of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress in his first trip since his July colon surgery and six months after visiting Iraq. #PopeinHungary#PopeinBudapestpic.twitter.com/orcyYPcvGi
Pope Francis will spend roughly seven hours in Hungary, where he will offer the closing Mass of the International Eucharistic Congress, before flying on Sunday afternoon to Slovakia, where he will visit four cities on Sept. 12-15.
The pope’s meeting with Orbán, with whom he sharply disagrees on migration, and Hungarian President János Áder took place at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. The private meeting lasted for about an hour.
A photograph of the three men meeting was posted on Orbán’s Instagram account.
A photograph showed the men sitting inside the museum, with the pope on one side, flanked by senior Vatican officials, and Orbán, Áder, and Zsolt Semjén, Hungary’s deputy prime minister, on the other.
Immediately after the meeting, the pope gave a speech to the bishops of Hungary. He then took part in an ecumenical meeting with leaders of Hungary’s Protestant Christian, as well as representatives of the country’s Jewish communities.
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Bishop Joe Vasquez of the Diocese of Austin celebrates Mass in the Mountain View Unit prison in Gatesville, Texas, which houses the state’s female death row, on Dec. 1, 2023. / Credit: Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition/TDCJ Communications
CNA Staff, Dec 5, 2023 / 10:41 am (CNA).
Bishop Joe Vasquez of the Diocese of Austin celebrated Mass on Friday at the prison housing Texas’ seven female death row inmates, five of whom have converted to Catholicism during their time awaiting execution.
In his homily before the women in the prison, preaching on Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, Vasquez reflected on the son’s betrayal of his father’s love, his repentance, and the unexpected, overwhelming forgiveness and celebration of the son by his father.
Bishop Joe Vasquez (center) of the Diocese of Austin celebrates Mass in the Mountain View Unit prison in Gatesville, Texas, which houses the state’s female death row, on Dec. 1, 2023. Credit: Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition/TDCJ Communications
He emphasized the mercy of God in calling sinners back into his family, no matter what they may have done in the past.
“You belong to the Church just as much as anybody else. The walls may separate us, but the walls can never keep Christ down,” Vasquez said to the women.
“There’s a lot of things we can’t do for you, but we can be present, we can accompany. We want to keep on bringing the message of hope.”
Karen Clifton, CPMC’s executive coordinator, told CNA that the group’s goal is to provide a baseline of formation for Catholics wanting to minister to the incarcerated, responding to a lack of resources to train Catholics to do prison ministry in many dioceses across the country.
Clifton had previously ministered to several of the women on Texas’ death row — many of whom have been there for decades — back in the 1990s. Over the course of those decades, she said, five of the women converted to Catholicism, thanks in large part to the efforts of Deacon Ronnie Lastovica, the Diocese of Austin’s pastoral care coordinator for the region where the prison is located.
In addition, Clifton said, six of the current prisoners are lay oblates with the Sisters of Mary Morning Star, a Catholic order of nuns located near Waco that has made ministry to the women on death row part of their mission as religious sisters. Clifton said all six of those women have committed to praying for the same intentions as the sisters, viewing their incarcerated state as something akin to a “monastic life.”
Clifton said she believes at least two of the women on death row would “almost certainly” join the order officially as nuns if they were released.
“I’ve seen the transformation of these women, having met them in the ’90s and then seeing them now. These are prayerful women … their prayer life is so deep. Just being in the units and seeing the transformation … they’re participating in [the nuns’] charism and in their prayer,” Clifton said.
In his homily, Vasquez further reflected on the importance of Catholics practicing the corporal works of mercy.
“This ministry of being with prisoners and accompanying them is so important. It’s one of the essential things … Christ is going to ask on the last day, ‘Were you there? Did you visit me?’ That’s what we’re going to be judged on,” he concluded.
“He didn’t even say how many times you’ve gone to church, how many times did we pray. How did you take care of the other person? Did you give some water to the thirsty? Did you clothe the naked? Did you visit the sick? Did you come and visit those in prison?’” he said.
Texas has carried out nearly 600 state executions and six federal executions since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. According to the same group, Texas has executed more women — six — than any other.
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2 Comments
This report does not mention how Orban chose to demonstrate his opposition Francis’ open borders fanaticism. He presented a letter that King Bela IV sent to Pope Innocent IV in 1250, warning of a looming Tartar invasion of Europe and calling for unity among Europeans to resist it. The Calvinist prime minister is not in the least bit intimidated by Francis’s thuggery and provides a model of how to oppose it.
Apparently unbeguiled by Pope Francis’ winning smile, a smile that has left many a dignitary agog PM Orbán stares quizitively. Suspicious. And no wonder as CNA Courtney Mares quickly points out they have diametrically opposite positions on migration. Calvinist Viktor Orbán would have made Catholic King Saint Stephen who heroically routed Turkish invaders proud. Orthodox also claim favor of Stephen’s sainthood; the Church then still united. Elsewhere I’ve noted Francis is in cahoots with EU head Angela Merkel, a strong advocate of the open border policy that’s further weakening Europe’s diminished Catholic roots. All the giants of globalism like Soros, Gates are behind Merkel and delight in Francis’ smiling acquiescence to globalism issues, ecology concerns, the quest for equanimity. Orbán detractors align him with Poland’s Jarosław Kaczyński as Europe’s anti socialist reactionaries. Implying Nazi like fascism in their Fortress Europe mentality. Must we forget that Pope Francis never, not for one instant commended President Trump for his remarkable defence of Catholicism, and the right to life of the unborn. Only sharp criticism, negative innuendo. For President Biden? That wonderful smile. Not a peep from the Pope on Biden’s savage drive to further the slaughter of innocents in the womb.
This report does not mention how Orban chose to demonstrate his opposition Francis’ open borders fanaticism. He presented a letter that King Bela IV sent to Pope Innocent IV in 1250, warning of a looming Tartar invasion of Europe and calling for unity among Europeans to resist it. The Calvinist prime minister is not in the least bit intimidated by Francis’s thuggery and provides a model of how to oppose it.
Apparently unbeguiled by Pope Francis’ winning smile, a smile that has left many a dignitary agog PM Orbán stares quizitively. Suspicious. And no wonder as CNA Courtney Mares quickly points out they have diametrically opposite positions on migration. Calvinist Viktor Orbán would have made Catholic King Saint Stephen who heroically routed Turkish invaders proud. Orthodox also claim favor of Stephen’s sainthood; the Church then still united. Elsewhere I’ve noted Francis is in cahoots with EU head Angela Merkel, a strong advocate of the open border policy that’s further weakening Europe’s diminished Catholic roots. All the giants of globalism like Soros, Gates are behind Merkel and delight in Francis’ smiling acquiescence to globalism issues, ecology concerns, the quest for equanimity. Orbán detractors align him with Poland’s Jarosław Kaczyński as Europe’s anti socialist reactionaries. Implying Nazi like fascism in their Fortress Europe mentality. Must we forget that Pope Francis never, not for one instant commended President Trump for his remarkable defence of Catholicism, and the right to life of the unborn. Only sharp criticism, negative innuendo. For President Biden? That wonderful smile. Not a peep from the Pope on Biden’s savage drive to further the slaughter of innocents in the womb.