Pope to visit Slovakia for the fourth time (overview) – Aktuality.sk

It is the 34th apostolic journey of Pope Francis during his more than eight-year pontificate. At the same time, it will be the fourth visit of the head of the Catholic Church in Slovakia.

Pope John Paul II visited Slovakia three times. For the first time, in 1990, as a part of Czechoslovakia, in 1995 and 2003 already as an independent republic. Overall, Pope John Paul II. during his 27-year pontificate, he completed 104 foreign trips.

21 and 22 April 1990

Pope John Paul II. arrived on the historically first visit to Czechoslovakia. Believers showed interest in visiting as early as 1985 on a pilgrimage in Velehrad in Moravia. However, communist functionaries refused. In January 1990, after the fall of communism, an official delegation interpreted the invitation to the pope. Although the pope’s travels are usually prepared a year or two in advance, he found a free date in April.

John Paul II arrived in Prague on April 21, 1990. The next day he celebrated Mass at Velehrad, and then moved to Bratislava to Vajnory Airport, where another Mass was held.

The visit of the Holy Father was adversely affected by extremely bad weather. Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the Vajnory airport. When the pope got out of the helicopter, he kissed the Slovak land. He did so despite the fact that it is a protocol custom to kiss the country only in the capital of the country that the Holy Father will visit – which was Prague at the time.

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In the archival image from July 2, 1995 – Pope John Paul II. on a visit to Košice, where he celebrated Holy Mass at the airport associated with the consecration of three martyrs from Košice.
Source: TASR

June 30 – July 3, 1995

Pope John Paul II. visited the independent Slovak Republic for the first time. He was in Bratislava, Nitra, Šaštín, Košice, Prešov, Levoča and privately in the High Tatras.

He met Slovak clergy at the St. Martin’s Cathedral in Bratislava. At a personal meeting with the then President Michal Kováč in the Primate’s Palace (where the presidential residence was at the time), the Pope highlighted, among other things, the historical role of Andrej Hlinka.

In Bratislava, he also met with representatives of non-Catholic churches and religious communities, and in Prešov with Greek Catholic believers. He celebrated Mass in Šaštín (July 1), in Košice (July 2) and at the end of his visit on July 3, in the morning, he also celebrated Mass at a pilgrimage site – on Mariánská hora in Levoča.

In Košice, the Pope blessed the martyrs of Košice, Marek Križin, Melichar Grodecký and Štefan Pongrác.

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Pope John Paul II. / na sn. in the middle / arrived on September 11, 2003 for a four-day official visit to the Slovak Republic. It was the 102nd foreign trip of the head of the Catholic Church
Source: TASR

September 11-14, 2003

It was the Pope’s 102nd foreign trip, one of the last. During his stay, the Holy Father visited Trnava, Banská Bystrica, Rožňava and Bratislava.

The Pope received in an audience the President of the Slovak Republic Rudolf Schuster, the President of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Pavel Hrušovský and the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Mikuláš Dzurinda.

In Petržalka, Bratislava, on September 14, 2003, John Paul II. he celebrated Mass. The beatification of the Greek Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Vasil Hopek and the nun Zdenka Scheling was the culmination of the official visit of Pope John Paul II. in Slovakia.