Pope Francis said peace on the war in Ukraine was discussed between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Budapest.
Pope Francis told reporters on the 30th, "There is a mission that is currently underway, but it has not yet been made public. When it is made public, we will make it public." “No,” Reuters reported on the day.
"We talked about all of this. Everyone is interested in the path to peace," Pope Francis said on his return flight to reporters after the three-day event in Budapest. "We are involved in a secret 'mission' to stop a war between Ukraine and Ukraine, and we will do everything humanly possible to return children from Ukraine to Russia and reunite families."
The representative office of the Russian Orthodox Church of Hilarion said in a statement on the same day, "We briefed Francis on the social and educational activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary and its relationship with the Catholic Church." did,” he said.
Regarding the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican, the Associated Press said, "The Russian Orthodox Church's strong support for the Kremlin war has elevated the Vatican in the ranks and prevented a second papal meeting with Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin." “Francis and Cyril held the first meeting between the pope and the head of the Russian church in Cuba in 2016, and they had previously planned a second meeting, but it was postponed indefinitely due to Cyril's support for the war,” it said.
Hungary, which has accepted war refugees since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and refused to provide arms to Ukraine, held a large-scale outdoor mass in front of the Parliament Building on the 30th of last month, and the pope met with some 20,000 Ukrainian refugees living in Hungary.
The Associated Press said, “Shortly after giving greetings and encouragement to the refugees, Pope Francis visited the Greek Catholic Church right next door, which is helping refugees. He then met Metropolitan Hilarion, the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary, at the Holy See's embassy. He said of the meeting that it was 'amicable'."
The New York Times, which covered the pope's in-flight remarks, said, "Hungarian Prime Minister Orban is leading NATO and European Union member states, but his position on the war is at odds with that of other European countries. He opposed sending military aid to Ukraine and imposing international sanctions on Russia from the start.”
“In the beginning of the war, the pope was reluctant to name Russia as the aggressor, in part because he hoped that by maintaining the Vatican’s traditional neutrality, it would put them in a position of truce or peace,” said Pope Francis. I said that I played a role in facilitating the exchange of prisoners, but now I want to play a leading role in peace negotiations.”
On the 27th, the first day of his visit to Hungary, Pope Francis said of his meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Schmihal, "I think peace is always made by opening channels," and "we discussed the peace formula."
The Ukrainian prime minister has previously asked the Vatican for help in returning Ukrainian children taken to Russia.
Russia's forcible repatriation of Ukrainian children appears to be Russia's response to what the International Criminal Court declared last month to be a war crime.
“How sad and painful it is to see closed doors,” the Pope said at Mass in front of the Hungarian Parliament Building.
Immediately after Mass, Pope Francis met with Metropolitan Hilarion, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church, and appears to have held a three-way meeting with the Hungarian prime minister afterwards.
“Throughout the trip, Pope Francis spoke candidly about immigration and the war in Ukraine when he visited the frontlines closest,” said NYT Rome bureau chief Jason Horoitz, who was on board the papal jet. As a signal, he prayed for the protection and peace of 'the besieged Ukrainian and Russian people'."