Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, known for his Euroscepticism and anti-migrant views, has presented Pope Francis with a copy of a letter of 1243 from King Béla IV of Hungary to Pope Innocent IV, in which the king informs the pope…

As is well known, Béla IV warned the pontiffs of the Mongol menace more than once; he wrote to Gregory IX as well, begging for help, but these pleas went unanswered. Nor did any European state respond to the call to defend Hungary, and in the end the whole country was laid waste and drenched in blood, and not Hungary alone, but Croatia too, and lands far to the west: the invaders' armies reached almost as far as Vienna.

In reply to Orbán's speech in defence of a Christian Hungary free of migrants, Francis urged a turn to "the liberating Gospel and God's boundless mercy towards all", remarking, in something like these words, that "the cross planted in the earth takes root and asks us to open our arms to all who thirst".

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Pope Leo XIV on the courage to do good, to forgive and to enter into dialogue

Our time needs men and women who have the courage to do good, even when it involves sacrifice. Draw near to those who are lonely, support the weary and seek out those who have lost their way. Have the courage to forgive, to begin anew and to enter into dialogue.

Old colour photograph with cracks: adults and children resting on the grass on a slope under a tree.

Orientalist Grigory Kozakov with relatives and children at a picnic near the village of Zhikharevka in 1903

The Orientalist Grigory Alexandrovich Kozakov, surrounded by his relatives, his daughter-in-law Countess Anna Nikolayevna Tolstaya, the children and their tutor, at a picnic near the village of Zhikharevka in 1903

Konstantin Ivanov's Cosmonautics Day poster, published in Moscow in 1977

Grow strong, cosmic youth! A poster for Cosmonautics Day, created by the artist Konstantin Konstantinovich Ivanov in 1977. The work was issued by the Moscow publishing house “Plakat” for 12 April. Konstantin Ivanov was a Soviet graphic artist and poster designer, Honoured Artist of the RSFSR. The theme of space

Signs of violent death found on skulls from burials beside the royal tombs at Abydos

An American archaeologist has carried out a forensic analysis of skulls of people who were buried beside the tombs of Egypt's first kings at Abydos, and has found on many of them traces of violent death. Abydos in Upper Egypt served as the burial place of the kings

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Pope Leo XIV on the courage to do good, to forgive and to enter into dialogue

Orientalist Grigory Kozakov with relatives and children at a picnic near the village of Zhikharevka in 1903

Konstantin Ivanov's Cosmonautics Day poster, published in Moscow in 1977

Signs of violent death found on skulls from burials beside the royal tombs at Abydos