Pope Francis in Hungary and Slovakia

Newly published remarks from Pope Francis' meeting with Slovakian Jesuits include mention of a "large Catholic television channel" that is critical of him. The pope also spoke his more welcoming approach to marriage and family life, his recovery from his recent surgery and traditionalist priests. 

NCR Live: Host and NCR opinion editor Olga Segura talks to NCR Vatican correspondent Christopher White and The Tablet Rome Correspondent Christopher Lamb following Francis' recent papal trip to Hungary and Slovakia

Signs of the Times: Pope Francis was at his prophetic best on his recent papal trip. He is standing up for the marginalized who have been bloodied by war, starved by famine and displaced by persecution. 

Pope Francis on Sept. 15 said the question of whether pro-choice Catholic politicians should receive Communion is "pastoral" and warned against bishops and priests who wade into politics. 

The world needs Christians who are "signs of contradiction," who demonstrate the beauty of the Gospel rather than hostility toward others, Pope Francis said. Celebrating Mass on the final day of his apostolic trip to Slovakia Sept. 15, the pope said the country needed such prophets who are "models of fraternal life, where society is experiencing tension and hostility," especially toward those who often feel unwelcome.

No one should be kept away from the church, Pope Francis said while visiting an ostracized Roma community in Slovakia.

Christian faith is not demonstrated by worldly power but through lived witness, Pope Francis said on Sept. 14 in Slovakia.

Slovakia's "fragile" freedom will not be strengthened through isolationism or engaging in culture wars Pope Francis said on Sept. 13, but rather through authentic dialogue and openness.

In Slovakia, Pope Francis prayed that Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the ninth-century missionary brothers who evangelized Central and Eastern Europe before the division of Catholicism and Orthodoxy, would intercede for all religious faiths in the country.  

Pope Francis delivered an implicit rebuke of political strongmen as he arrived in the Hungarian capital Sept. 12.

Francis will spend less than seven hours in Budapest, Hungary, before he heads to Slovakia, crisscrossing the country with an aim to spotlight interreligious dialogue, ecumenism, and collaboration over isolationism.

Pope Francis on Sunday asked for prayers for his visit later this month to “the heart of Europe,” a four-day pilgrimage to Hungary and Slovakia, which will be his first travels since surgery earlier this summer.

Pope Francis' first foreign trip since his recovery from surgery will be to the Eastern European countries of Hungary and Slovakia from Sept. 12-15. While Slovakian citizens eagerly anticipate the papal visit, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to generate conflicts and challenges.

The Francis Chronicles: Pope Francis' September trip to Hungary and Slovakia features a jam-packed schedule that shows he has no intention of slowing down despite his recent recovery from colon surgery.

Pope Francis announced on Sunday that he'll go to Slovakia in September, adding a three-day visit to that European nation after a pilgrimage to neighboring Hungary.