Tens of thousands attend Mass with Pope on banks of Danube

Pope Francis arrives for Mass in Kossuth Lajos Square in Budapest (Andrew Medichini/AP)

Tens of thousands of Hungarians flocked to Budapest’s main square for Pope Francis’s final Mass, gathering on the banks of the Danube as the pontiff wrapped up a weekend visit to the heart of Europe with pleas for a peaceful end to Russia’s war next door.

The Mass on Kossuth Lajos Square, with the Hungarian parliament and Budapest’s famed Chain Bridge as a backdrop, provided the visual highlight of Francis’s three-day visit that has been dominated by the Vatican’s concern for the plight of neighbouring Ukraine.