Pope Francis Discusses Family Values, Ukraine War with Hungarian President

Hungary is known for its family-centered policies — which include government bonuses of $33,000 for married couples who have three children — and have helped boost the country’s birth rate.

Novák last met Pope Francis last spring in Budapest during the pope’s trip to Hungary from April 28–30. During her visit to the Vatican, she also sat down with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Undersecretary for Relations with States Msgr. Mirosław Wachowski.

Hungary President Katalin Novák meets Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin at the Vatican on Aug. 25, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media

Days before her meeting with Pope Francis, Novák traveled to Ukraine, where she met one-on-one with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and discussed a plan for cooperation on the case of children affected by the war.

Novák wrote on social media that the war in Ukraine was also the primary topic of her conversation with Pope Francis.

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“We agreed to work together to achieve a long-term, sustainable #peace as soon as possible. We also discussed what we can do together to ensure that the #children abducted from Ukraine can return home,” she wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

She also called Hungary and the Vatican “allies in standing up for traditional #family values and protecting children.”

My journey from Kyiv led to the #Vatican, where, among others, I discussed three important matters with @Pontifex.
1. Our primary topic was the #war. We agreed to work together to achieve a long-term, sustainable #peace as soon as possible. We also discussed what we can do… pic.twitter.com/z3Tfb9QiRf

— Katalin Novák (@KatalinNovak_HU) August 25, 2023

Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.