Residents attend a mass inside a church located in the Roma settlement at the Lunik IX quarter of Slovakia's second largest city of Kosice, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021. Pope Francis will make his visit to the impoverished Roma community in Slovakia one of the highlights of his pilgrimage to "the heart of Europe." Francis will be the first pontiff to meet the most socially excluded minority group in that Central European country. (AP Photo/Peter Lazar)
Pope Francis is paying a visit next week to a neighbourhood in Slovakia most Slovaks would not even think about going, which until recently even the police would avoid after dark.
Francis will make the visit to the Roma community in the Lunik IX quarter of Slovakia's second-largest city of Kosice one of the highlights of his pilgrimage to "the heart of Europe."
Francis will be the first pontiff to meet the most socially excluded minority group in Slovakia. A fitting place to go for the "pope of the peripheries," Lunik XI is the biggest of about 600 shabby, segregated settlements where the poorest 20% of the country's 400,000 Roma live.
Most lack basics such as running water or sewage systems, gas or electricity.
"It's a huge honour for us," said Lunik IX mayor Marcel Sana, who has been a local resident since he was 2. "Even if he says just a few words, his presence will be a big boost for all those living here, the socially disadvantaged and poor people who need such support."
For Peter Zatkulak, one of four priests who belong to...
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