Pope Francis arrives to lead the prayer to mark the end of the month of worldwide prayers to end the pandemic in the Vatican gardens, 31 May 2021. (Photo: Epa-efe / Filippo Monteforte / Pool) Pope Francis is due to arrive in mainly Roman Catholic Slovakia on Sept. 12 for a visit culminating in an open-air Mass at the Sastin pilgrimage site in western Slovakia on Sept. 15.
Some 43% of people in the country of 5.5 million have so far been fully vaccinated or have received their first shot against COVID-19.
The Conference of Slovak Bishops said non-vaccinated people who have tested negative or who have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 180 days would also be allowed to register for the papal events.
Around 30,000 people have so far registered for the Mass to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows at Sastin, a site dedicated to the main patron saint of Slovakia.
Several tens of thousands of people usually attend events during a papal visit. A Mass in the neighbouring Czech Republic attracted 120,000 in 2009 when Pope Benedict visited.
Francis will be the first pope to visit Slovakia since John Paul II in 2003.
(Reporting by Robert Muller Editing by Gareth Jones)
Information pertaining to Covid-19, vaccines, how to control the spread of the virus and potential treatments is ever-changing. Under the South African Disaster Management Act Regulation 11(5)(c) it is prohibited to publish information through any medium with the intention to deceive people on government measures to address COVID-19. We are therefore disabling the comment section on this article in order to protect both the commenting member and ourselves from potential liability. Should you have additional information that you think we should know, please email letters@dailymaverick.co.za