Pope in Slovakia: Changes in conditions were impassable, say bishops – SME – SME.sk

BRATISLAVA. About 33,000 people are currently registered for the September events during the Holy Father’s visit to Slovakia.

This was confirmed for TASR on Wednesday by Martin Kramara, a spokesman for the Conference of Bishops of Slovakia (KBS).

The changes were impassable

Related article The bishops published the conditions and rules for events with the pope Read

Around 10,000 people are registered in Prešov, in Košice the number is around 7,000. The greatest interest from people is in Šaštín. According to Kramaru, about 16,000 people are registered there.

A KBS spokesman noted that overall, people’s interest is lower. “We encourage people not to keep it to the last minute,” he said.

At the same time, a KBS spokesman confirmed that people other than those who had been vaccinated had asked about the change of conditions so that people other than those vaccinated could attend the events with the head of the Catholic Church several times before the start of registration.

“We have been clearly told several times that this is not possible,” Kramara concluded.

They do not consider changes

Changes in the conditions of citizens’ participation in the Pope’s visit to Slovakia are not currently being considered, the prime minister said Eduard Heger (OĽANO). The Minister of Health is not considering it either Vladimir Lengvarsky (nominant OĽANO).

Minister of Economy Richard Sulík he would not change the set rules when visiting the pope, according to him it was clearly stated that only fully vaccinated persons can meet the pope and he would no longer change the rules “during the game”. “However, if the prime minister comes up with a proposal for change, we will not argue about the country,” he added.

On the contrary, the Minister of Labor Milan Krajniak (We are a family) think that when visiting the Pope, it would not be a problem to set aside sectors for people who are not fully vaccinated. However, the Minister of Labor emphasized that this was his personal opinion and fully respected the agreement of the Minister of Health, the Vatican and the Conference of Bishops of Slovakia. “If we were to reconsider, given the reported numbers of participants, I would not resist,” added the head of the Ministry of Labor.

Pope Francis on a September visit to Slovakia he will visit Bratislava, Košice, Prešov and Šaštín. It will meet with the three highest constitutional officials, but also representatives of the Jewish or Roma community. In Šaštín, the Holy Mass with the homily of the Holy Otcap is on the agenda