LIVE BROADCAST 10:30 GMT today: Romani people meet with Pope Francis

Pope Francis will receive more than 5 000 Romani people from the Americas, Asia and Europe today in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City at 10:30 GMT and the event will be broadcast live online. The meeting concludes the International Pilgrimage of Gypsies, which was organized by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples between 23 and 26 October this year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s visit to Romani people in a travellers’ camp in Pomezia, Italy.

A representative of the Papal Council told news server Vatican Insider that the meeting "aims to remind the gypsy people and the whole of the community of the Church’s openness with regards to those living on the margins of society, an openness that was particularly encouraged by Pope Montini 50 years ago. The idea is that the event becomes a ‘meeting of cultures’, an occasion to inform the world about the history and qualities of the gypsy people, who have often fallen victim to prejudice and hostility.”