Slovakia: Those planning to attend public events with Pope Francis have to register online

Those interested in attended public events with Pope Francis during his September visit to Slovakia have to register in advance online. As part of preparatoins for the arrival of the head of the Catholic Church, the country is also repairing roads and sidewalks. 

The Government has allocated more than EUR 5.4 million to arrange for the Pope's visit, according to information released by the cabinet and by organizers of the events on his itinerary. Believers living in the Czech Republic will have the closest opportunity to attend an event featuring the Pope in Šaštín, where he will officiate mass on 15 September, which in Slovakia is the feast day of the Virgin Mary of the Seven Sorrows, the country's patron saint.   

Šaštín, a significant pilgrimage site in Slovakia, is just 15 kilometers from the Czech border. As many as 300 000 people are anticipated to arrive there for mass.

The Pope's visit to Slovakia will end with the Šaštín service. On 14 September there will also be public events with the Pope in eastern Slovakia. 

In Prešov, the reading of the liturgy is planned, while in Košice the head of the Catholic Church will visit members of the Romani minority at the Luník IX housing estate and at the local multipurpose stadium in that city, Slovakia's second-largest, where he will meet with youth. The Slovak authorities have informed the puhlbic that only those vaccinated against COVID-19 will be allowed to attend events with the Pope.     

After completing their online registration, people will receive tickets which they will use together with their personal identitification to access the events with the Pope that they have chosen to attend. Proof of immunization against COVID-19 is also a condition for people traveling to Slovakia to avoid quarantine upon arrival, with certain exceptions.

The Pope will also meet with top-level politicians in Slovakia and with the Jewish community during his visit to Slovakia on 12-15 September. A head of the Catholic Church visited Slovakia most recently in 2003, when Pope John Paul II visited the country.