(ANSA-AFP) - KOSICE, SEP 14 - Pope Francis will meet with
members of the 400,000-strong Roma minority in Slovakia on
Tuesday during his visit to the impoverished Lunik IX housing
estate in Kosice. The 84-year-old Argentine pontiff, who
regularly calls for assistance to the world's poorest
communities, is on his first foreign trip since a colon
operation in July. During the trip so far, the pope has called
for Europe to show "solidarity" as its economy recovers from the
pandemic and issued a powerful call against anti-Semitism. In
Lunik IX, nearly 4,500 residents are squeezed into a space meant
to accommodate half that number. Many blocks have no
electricity, heat, gas or running water as utilities were cut
due to unpaid bills. "It is great that the Holy Father is
willing to come to a place where no one wants to go," said Peter
Besenyei, leader of the local Salesian community at Lunik IX,
responsible for the pastoral care of the Roma in the Kosice
Archdiocese. "It is difficult to find teachers at Lunik IX, it
is difficult to find priests who would be willing to work there,
and the pope comes there in this difficult environment,"
Besenyei told AFP. In the weeks ahead of the visit, city
authorities got busy fixing a road in the area and cleaning up.
Lunik IX resident Rudolf Mosorov, 66, said the pope's visit was
a "miracle". "He will bring us God's blessing," he said. Nearly
20 percent of Slovakia's Roma live in abject poverty, in more
than 600 shanty towns mostly in the south and east of this
eurozone country of 5.4 million people. Eastern Slovakia has one
of the lowest GDP per capita levels in Europe. The Roma have big
communities in Central and Eastern Europe and are considered the
largest ethnic minority in Europe. They have faced
discrimination for centuries -- historians estimate that half a
million Roma were killed by the Nazis, wiping out about a
quarter of their population. A 35-member Roma children's choir
will perform for the pontiff, who is expected to say a couple of
words in the Romani language. (ANSA-AFP).
© Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved