POPE HIGHLIGHTS SOLID AND RICH FAITH OF SLOVAKIAN PEOPLE

VATICAN CITY, OCT 28, 2002 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father met with Rudolf Schuster, president of the Slovakian Republic, who came to Rome on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the independence of his country.

In his speech, John Paul II emphasized the "deep devotion" of the Slovakian people to the Successor of Peter, a devotion which since the times of Cyril and Methodius "has spread and become even deeper." And he added: "The faith of the Slovakian people is solid and rich due to the work of brilliant and generous shepherds who have known how to be close to their faithful in good times and bad."

After referring to the confidence with which Slovakia looks at Europe, he said: "I am sure that the future entry of your country into the European Union, which will be of benefit to Slovakia, will also contribute to the well-being and stability of the whole continent."

The Pope affirmed that "today we observe the exchange of the instruments of ratification of the accord, signed in Bratislava on August 21, 2002, on religious assistance for the Catholic faithful in the Armed Forces of the country. This is one of the consequences of the basic Accord that came about in November of 2000 between the Holy See and Slovakia."

"The Church," he continued, "is not looking for privileges or favors, on the contrary, it only asks to be able to carry out its mission, respecting the laws that govern civil co-existence," and "to maintain a cordial and constructive dialogue" with the institutions of the State. This dialogue "becomes so much more useful," keeping in mind that the Catholic Church went through "a hard period of persecution during the Communist regime."

The Holy Father concluded by emphasizing that "the importance of the Church's activity manifests itself above all in the present circumstances in which the young democracy must confront problems related to the inheritance of Marxist ideology, as well as the tumultuous process of modernization, the phenomenon of unemployment and the consequent danger, for those who find themselves in need, of getting involved in illegal activities."

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