When Pope Francis lands in Budapest on Friday, Eduard Habsburg, Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See and a descendant of the defunct Habsburg dynasty that once ruled much of Europe, will greet him on the tarmac with a gag gift.
“Begin now or do you want to wait for eternity?” Mr. Habsburg, 56, said he planned to ask Francis.
But after a career as a zombie-movie screenwriter, cartoon producer, love-triangle novelist, anime enthusiast, sci-fi geek and media personality with monarchic sensibilities, the Hungarian government came calling.
OK. That’s the same question I asked,” the amiable diplomat said over coffee in his residence last week in Rome.
“You will find respect in the Vatican if you go to Rome, because the Vatican still respects traditional families.”