ROB CAMERON

For years, Polish women have been evading their country’s strict abortion laws by seeking medical help to terminate unwanted pregnancies abroad. One such country is the Czech Republic, where access to abortion is legal, safe and provided on demand. Thousands are believed to have had abortions that would have been denied to them in Poland.

A Czech village priest caused uproar when he stamped on pumpkins left by local children near his church. “Leaving the rectory on Sunday evening, I saw numerous symbols of the satanic feast of ‘Halloween’ placed in front of our sacred grounds,” he wrote in an apology. “But try to remember that my duty as a priest is to protect children and families from hidden evil.”

Pope Francis has begun a four-day visit to Slovakia, the first papal visit to the country in 18 years. Typically, he’s going out of his way to embrace the most excluded members of society. He’s spending 70 hours in Slovakia, after just seven in Hungary, and commentators believe Francis was sending a very subtle message to Viktor Orban in Budapest.

Councillors in the Slovak village of Varin have rejected a request from state prosecutors to rename the country’s sole street sign honouring Slovakia’s wartime fascist leader, Monsignor Jozef Tiso. The village – in the Zilina region – bears a street named “Dr Jozef Tiso Street”. Earlier this year, activists tore down the street sign in the latest instalment in a long-running saga.