Pope Francis has spoken out strongly against abortion and gender ideology during a visit to Hungary, citing both as examples of “ideological colonisation” during a speech.

The pope’s denunciation came during an address to civil authorities and other dignitaries in which he lamented “self-referential forms of populism” and “supranationalism” gaining traction in Europe.

 “This is the baneful path taken by those forms of ‘ideological colonisation’ that would cancel differences, as in the case of the so-called gender theory, or that would place before the reality of life reductive concepts of freedom, for example by vaunting as progress a senseless ‘right to abortion’, which is always a tragic defeat,” said the Pope, who is in Budapest for a three-day visit.

“How much better it would be to build a Europe centred on the human person and on its peoples, with effective policies for natality and the family — policies that are pursued attentively in this country — a Europe whose different nations would form a single family that protects the growth and uniqueness of each of its members,” the Holy Father said.