Pope Francis has arrived on Sunday afternoon to visit the Slovak Republic. The Holy Father was welcomed at M.R. Stefanik Airport in Bratislava by the most supreme constitutional officials with a delegation and the Slovak bishops. The pope arrived with his official delegation and 80 reporters. He was welcomed at the airport at the foot of the front steps of the plane by President Zuzana Caputova together with ombudswoman Maria Patakyova, Catholic dissident Frantisek Miklosko, Holocaust survivor Herta Vysna and Maria Jasenkova, the head of the civic association Flame aimed at developing children's home palliative care. Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO), Parliamentary Chair Boris Kollar (We Are Family) as well as several Slovak bishops welcomed him at the airport. Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok (an SaS nominee) and Bratislava mayor Matus Vallo were present too.
According to tradition, members of the children's folklore ensemble Lucka in traditional costumes from Vazec welcomed the Pope with bread and salt. The Holy Father also received a bouquet of original Slovak species of plants and herbs. At the airport, there are also about 500 believers from the parish in the Bratislava borough of Vajnory, where Pope John Paul II celebrated the Holy Mass in 1990.
Source: TASR
