President Ivan Gašparovic received the Bethlehem Light from Slovak scouts in the presidential palace on the early evening of Sunday, December 13.
“I'm happy that it has become a tradition,” he told the scouts as quoted by the TASR newswire. “We meet every year when you bring the Bethlehem Light, that blinking little flame.”
“We've brought to you the Bethlehem Light, a little flame, which is small in size but big in its meaning. It represents a message of love, peace and understanding, which spreads by help of hundreds of volunteers to people in the world,” TASR quoted the deputy chief of Slovak Scouting, Martin Benko, as saying.
Distributing the Bethlehem Light, a flame from the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, has a 20-year-old tradition. This year it reached Slovakia on December 12 when it was received by the Slovak scouts from their Austrian mates. TASR
Compiled by Michaela Stanková from press reports
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