(14 Sep 2021) Pope Francis arrived in the far east of Slovakia on Tuesday to meet with the country's Roma in a gesture of inclusion for the most socially excluded minority group in the country, who have long suffered discrimination, marginalisation and poverty.
Francis' visit to the Lunik IX settlement in Kosice is one of the highlights of his four-day pilgrimage to Hungary and Slovakia.
Lunik IX is the biggest of about 600 shabby, segregated settlements where the poorest 20% of Slovakia’s 400,000 Roma live.
Most lack basics such as running water or sewage systems, gas or electricity.
Even before the pope arrived, residents said Tuesday that something had already changed, both tangible and not.
After the Roma encounter, Francis was meeting with Slovakia’s young people.
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