President Zuzana Caputova will have a tete-a-tete conversation with Pope Francis in the golden salon of the Presidential Palace on Monday, September 13, and the official welcoming ceremony will take place in the front courtyard, TASR learnt from spokesman for the head of state Martin Strizinec on Tuesday. Caputova will receive the Pope as the head of the Slovak Republic on Monday morning. Strizinec said that a usual ceremony with an honour guard, military music and anthems will be prepared.The Pope will subsequently move with the president to the golden salon, where they will have a face-to-face conversation. However, an interpreter will also be present, as Caputova will speak Slovak and the Pope Italian during the meeting. This will be followed by a meeting of the Holy Father with Caputova's close family in the green salon. "Her daughters, the president's parents and her partner will be there," said Strizinec.
After this item of the programme, Caputova and Pope Francis will move to the backyard, where the head of the Catholic Church will meet with hundreds of representatives of the state, civil society, the diplomatic corps, but also people from the third sector. According to Strizinec, the president will welcome the Holy Father with an address and he will immediately greet Slovakia and its inhabitants.
