The Slovak President also met with the current Pope Francis and repeated his invitation to the Pope to visit Slovakia. “I repeated my invitation to the Holy Father. He said he will come when he can,” the President said afterwards. “It was a good feeling to talk to him; with no fear or nervousness. As if you were talking to a friend in a street,” he added. Ivan Gašparovič also thanked Pope Francis for cooperation with Slovakia. “My philosophy has always been not to fight or compete with the Church, but to work together,” the President further explained. He also thanked the Pope for excellent cooperation between Slovakia and the Holy Seat.

Ivan Gašparovič met Pope John Paul II four times. “He was an inspiration for me. He always spoke about good relationships between people, nations and churches. Pope Francis is doing that, too, and the Church needs it,” says the Slovak President. In his opinion, the Sunday canonisation is also important for Slovakia, because Pope John XXIII blessed the corner stone of the Slovak College of St. Cyril and Methodius in Rome and Pope John Paul II promoted it to a pontifical college in 1998.

Pope John II (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli ), was appointed the 261st Pope on 28 October 1958. He was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II on 3 September 2000. John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) was elected Pope on 16 October 1978. He was beatified by his immediate successor Pope Benedict XVI on 1 May 2011. During his Pontificate, Pope John Paul II made three visits to Slovakia: in 1990, 1995 and 2003.