19. March 2026
NAPS Institute has deepened its long-standing good relations with the Vatican authorities
NAPS representatives held talks in the Vatican with two cardinals – prefects (ministers) and met again with the Holy Father Leo XIV.
In mid-March 2026, members of the NAPS Institute Council – Nostrae Actrivitates Pro Slovakia, Peter and Lenka Solej, made a three-day working visit to the Vatican. With the Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, they evaluated the 17-year excellent mutual cooperation to date for the development of dialogue and tolerance between nations and religions. The Cardinal made his first ever visit to Slovakia at the invitation of the NAPS Institute in 2017 and also participated in the XIII. NAPS International Ecumenical Concert 2017, which was dedicated to the memory of the first President of the Slovak Republic and honorary member of NAPS, H.E. Mr. Michal Kováč, in the new building of the Slovak National Theatre.
With the Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Georg Jacob Koovakad, they discussed the importance of dialogue between Christianity, Judaism and Islam, the 3 most important world religions as the “Abrahamic Family.”
They had the honor to inform Pope Leo XIV again about NAPS’ plans in the 22nd year of its international non-commercial activity. “We presented His Holiness with a hand-stitched leather notebook with his coat of arms and gilded pages from the portfolio of our family company LE SOLEIL, with the wish that the Holy Father, in unity with world leaders, would begin to write a new, golden history of world peace as soon as possible. The Holy Father also accepted a gift of a solideo (a white cap that he wears on his head) from us and immediately removed his own from his head as a gift for our institute. It was our 11th meeting in a row with the 3rd Pope of the Catholic Church,” said Peter Solej, founder and director of NAPS, to the media.