Cardinal Péter Erdő, the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, said hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the holy mass to be held by Pope Francis in Budapest’s Kossuth Square during his visit on April 30.
Cardinal Erdő told MTI that a total of 20,000 seats will be made available, but standing room in the square and in surrounding streets will allow hundreds of thousands to attend the papal mass. “The faithful and pilgrims from within and beyond the borders are all welcome to attend,” the cardinal said, expressing hope that the message of the mass will have a broad outreach. On Saturday, the pontiff is scheduled to meet around 15,000 young people in the Papp László Arena, Erdő noted, adding that the number of young participants each diocese can send will be discussed by the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference next week. Pope Francis will visit Hungary between April 28 and 30. Michael Wallace Banach, the apostolic nuncio, told a press conference earlier in the day that Hungary was so far the only country for Pope Francis to visit twice.