Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, formerly American Cardinal Robert Prevost, addressed the faithful from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday, May 8, 2025. (source: Andrew Medichini)
Shortly after the election of the new pope, Leo XIV – formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost from the United States – news emerged that the new head of the Catholic Church was scheduled to visit Košice, eastern Slovakia, to hold a Mass there, TV Markíza reported.
The announcement of the Pope's election came on Thursday evening, just after 18:00, with white smoke billowing from the Sistine Chapel chimney signalling the decision of the College of Cardinals.
The former cardinal was scheduled to visit Košice on 1 June to celebrate a Mass marking the 30th anniversary of the Augustinians' arrival in Slovakia. However, local vicar Pavol Benedik, asked if he thought the papal election would affect the event, said: “We haven't had a chance to speak with him about it yet."
Change of plans
The plans by Prevost to visit Slovakia in the coming weeks have likely changed following his election as pope, said Archbishop Metropolitan of Košice and President of the Conference of Bishops of Slovakia, Monsignor Bernard Bober, at a press conference on Friday, 9 May.
Archbishop Bober recalled meeting Prevost – now Pope Leo XIV – several times. “He always admired our nation and its loyalty to the Holy Father during the communist era,” he said, adding that he hopes the new pope will maintain at least as warm a relationship with Slovaks as his predecessor, Pope Francis.
He noted that Prevost had visited Slovakia previously, thanks to his ties with the Augustinians active in the country’s east.
Prevost also planned to participate in Levoča pilgrimage
In addition to the Košice Mass, he was also slated to lead a pilgrimage Mass on Mariánska Hora in Levoča, also in eastern Slovakia, a month later, on 6 July 6 2025.
“The main celebrant of the solemn indulgence Mass on Sunday, 6 July 2025, at 10:00 will be Cardinal Robert Prevost, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops,” reads a statement shared by Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) chairman Milan Majerský.
Whether these plans remain in place under his new papacy is yet to be confirmed.
Future pope visited Košice in 2005
This would have been the new pope’s second visit to Slovakia. In 2005, Prevost, then serving as the Prior General of the Order of St Augustine, visited its monastery in Košice.
This is confirmed by archival photographs from the period, which were recently published on the Instagram account of the Order of St Augustine in Slovakia.
