On 18 October 2025, the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, presided over the Jubilee of the Roma, Sinti, and Traveller communities in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. This historic event came 60 years after the first such gathering, convened by Pope Paul VI in 1965, reaffirming the place of these communities at the heart of the Church.

Thousands of members of these communities from across Europe joined the Holy Father and Cardinal Fabio Baggio in prayer and in a concert of traditional music celebrating their shared faith and heritage.
During the commemoration, participants remembered the massacre of over 4,000 Roma at Auschwitz-Birkenau on 2 August 1944. The massacre was ordered to “make room” for thousands of Hungarian Jewish prisoners also heading for the gas chambers, and to punish the revolt that took place in the same camp earlier that same year—solemn reminders of the suffering endured during the Second World War.

The Ambassador at Large of the Sovereign Order of Malta for Roma Communities, H.E. Franz Salm Reifferscheidt, together with Mrs. Barbara and Miss Franziska Salm Reifferscheidt and Mrs. Stefanie Lanzdorf of Malteser International Austria, organised a group of thirty children from Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, and Albania to take part in the celebrations. The group was accommodated in two hostels of the Don Orione Order in Rome, thanks to the kind support and hospitality of Don Valeriano Giacomelli.

The Embassy of the Sovereign Order of Malta to Romania was represented by H.E. Roberto Musneci KM and his wife, Mrs. Marialaura Musneci DM. Today, Romania is home to an estimated 2.5 million Roma, remains a focus of the Order’s ongoing initiatives in social inclusion, education, and medical assistance. The audience was also an unprecedented opportunity for the organizers to briefly meet the Holy Father, share our hopes and receive his blessing and encouragement.

Reflecting on the weekend, Ambassador Musneci stated, “Marialaura and I would like to thank Franz, Stefanie, and our Romanian coordinator Anca Simu for their impressive work alongside the coordinators from Hungary and Albania. Accompanying the group to the Jubilee, passing through the Holy Door together, and meeting the Holy Father has been a moving experience that will give us courage and strength in the future.”