The Hungarian Catholic Bishops Conference has confirmed that Pope Francis will meet President János Áder and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during his one-day visit to Hungary in September.
In a statement, the conference added that “false information and misinterpretations” in the media of the Pope’s program in Hungary were “regrettable”. “It’s not true the Holy Father would have excluded anyone from his program,” the organization said. The pontiff is scheduled to arrive in Hungary on Sept. 12 and attend the closing Mass of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress. “Before Mass, a separate meeting is planned with Hungarian state leaders, government members and other high-ranking state leaders,” the statement said. According to press reports, the pontiff wanted to bypass meeting Hungarian political officials in protest against the Hungarian government’s policy regarding migrants.