Orbán has audience with Pope Francis and talks with Middle Eastern Christian leaders

Budapest, August 28 (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had an audience with Pope Francis in the framework of an annual meeting of Catholic lawmakers, the PM’s press chief told MTI on Sunday. Also Orbán held talks with Christian leaders from the Middle East in Rome.

Orbán has audience with Pope Francis

Orbán is participating at the annual conference of the International Catholic Legislators Network in Frascati, outside of Rome, said Bertalan Havasi. Participants had the opportunity to meet personally with the Holy Father on Sunday, he added.

Orbán holds talks with Middle Eastern Christian leaders

At the talks held on Saturday, the leaders discussed persecution against Christians in the Middle East, Bertalan Havasi said. Orbán said at the talks that Hungary stands up against the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, the most vulnerable Christians in the world, and is ready to support communities at risk, he added.

The leaders attending the talks included Ignatius Joseph III Yonan, the Patriarch of Antioch for the Syriac Catholic Church; Patriarch Moran Mor Bechara Boutros al-Rahi; Jean-Clement Jeanbart, the Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo; Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, the patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church; and Anba Gabriel, a Coptic bishop.

Photo: facebook.com/orbanviktor 

Source: MTI