Pellegrini to Travel to Vatican for Private Audience with Pope Leo XIV

Bratislava, 1 December (TASR) - Pope Leo XIV will receive President Peter Pellegrini for a private audience on Thursday (4 December), TASR was told by the President's Office's communications department on Monday. The visit will take place with reference to the Jubilee Year 2025 with the slogan 'Pilgrims of Hope', which is running from Christmas 2024 to 6 January 2026. He'll also meet Secretary of State of the Holy See Cardinal Pietro Parolin. "The president will pay an official visit to the Sovereign Order of Malta - the first ever at the level of head of state in two decades. At the meeting with Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Fra' John Dunlap, the two of them will follow up on the setting up of the Order of Malta Slovakia in 2024 and will also discuss their common interest in developing humanitarian cooperation," said the President's Office. The president's delegation will also attend the opening of an exhibition of indulgences with Slovak connections in Rome and the Vatican, combined with an Advent concert. On Friday (5 December), Pellegrini will ceremoniously unveil a mosaic of Our Lady of Sorrows in the Vatican Gardens. "As this will be a private audience between the head of state and the Holy Father, the president will be accompanied by his mother. All costs associated with her participation in the programme at the Vatican will be paid for by the president," said the communications department. Pellegrini has visited the Vatican several times during his tenure. In 2024, he was received by Pope Francis during Advent. This year, he returned to the Vatican on the occasion of the National Pilgrimage of Slovaks as part of the Jubilee Year, attended the funeral of the late Pope Francis and the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV. am/df