Pope Francis, during his Romania visit, has apologised to the Roma ethnic minority for discrimination against them in Europe and paid homage to Catholics persecuted during communist rule.
- Francis apologised for the many experiences of discrimination, segregation and mistreatment experienced by the communities, a reference to the second-class status of the Roma minority in Romania and throughout Europe, where Roma are more likely to be poor, uneducated and at risk of harassment, according to European Union studies.
About Roma Community
- Often called the Roma or the Romani people, this group is also known as gitanos in Spain, as gitan in France, as Tsingani in Central and Eastern Europe. They are also known as Gypsies.
- Roma also refer to themselves by various names: Kale in Finland and Portugal, Manush in France, and Sinti in Germany and Eastern Europe.
- Linguistic analysis suggests that the Roma are originally a Hindi people from northern India. Many of the words and grammatical rules of the Romani language are virtually identical to those of the Hindi language.
- As per the genetic evidence, Romani people may have originated in northern India. A 2012 study, published in the journal Cell Biology, analyzed genomic data from 13 Romani communities across Europe. The researchers concluded that the Roma people left northern India about 1,500 years ago; those Roma now in Europe migrated through the Balkans starting about 900 years ago.
