Seeking change, Slovak Roma settlement puts faith in Pope visit

View of balconies of a building at the Lunik IX Roma settlement in Kosice, Slovakia, September 6, 2021. REUTERS/David W Cerny

KOSICE, Slovakia (Reuters) - For factory worker Milan Turtak, the smoke-blackened buildings, sidewalks littered with garbage and extension cords hooked between apartment windows highlight the poverty and years of neglect in his Roma neighborhood in eastern Slovakia.

With little improving in the Lunik IX settlement over past decades, Turtak and others have pinned their hopes for change on a decision by Pope Francis to speak in the neighborhood -- located near a garbage dump -- on his central European trip.