About 33,000 People Registered for Events Related to Pope's Visit

Bratislava, August 25 (TASR) - About 33,000 people have registered so far for the events related to Pope Francis' visit in Slovakia in September, TASR learnt from spokesman for the Slovak Bishops Conference (KBS) on Wednesday. About 10,000 people want to come to Presov to meet Holy Father Francis so far, with the figure in Kosice standing at about 7,000. People are most interested in the event in Sastin (Trnava region), where, according to Kramara, about 16,000 people want to come. The KBS spokesman noted that overall interest of people so far is lower than expected. "We encourage people not to register at the last moment," he said. The KBS spokesman confirmed that they had asked about the change of the conditions so that people other than those vaccinated could come to the events with the head of the Catholic Church several times before the start of registration. "We've clearly said several times that this isn't possible," concluded Kramara. Pope Francis is set to visit Slovakia between September 12-15. He's scheduled to meet the country's top three constitutional officials as well as representatives of the Jewish and Roma communities. A Holy Mass with a homily given by the Holy Father will take place in Sastin. The Pope will also visit Bratislava, Kosice and Presov. am/mcs