(ANSA-AFP) - KOSICE, SEP 14 - Pope Francis on Tuesday visited
a dilapidated housing estate inhabited by ethnic Roma in eastern
Slovakia, calling for "integration" for the marginalised
community. The 84-year-old Argentine pontiff, who is on his
first foreign trip since a colon operation in July, often calls
for assistance to the world's poorest communities. After hearing
from Roma at the Lunik IX estate in Kosice, the pope told
members of the community that "all too often you have been the
object of prejudice and harsh judgements". "Marginalising others
accomplishes nothing. Segregating ourselves and other people
eventually leads to anger. The path to peaceful coexistence is
integration," he said from a podium, as residents watched from
apartment blocks. "Francis, Welcome Among Us," read a sign
hanging from one window. In Lunik IX, nearly 4,500 residents are
squeezed into a space meant to accommodate half that number.
Many blocks have no electricity, heat, gas or running water as
utilities were cut because of unpaid bills. "It is great that
the Holy Father is willing to come to a place where no one wants
to go," Peter Besenyei, leader of the local Salesian community
at Lunik IX, said ahead of the visit. (ANSA-AFP).
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