The Pope landed,on November 29, November in Central African Republic, where thousands of people lined the streets to welcome him: “I come as a pilgrim of peace and as an apostle of hope”

Speaking off the cuff, the Pope pronounced some strong words at Nairobi’s Karasani Stadium: there are cases of corruption in all institutions, “even in the Vatican”. Young people who are recruited by fundamentalists “need education and work”
andrea tornielli
in nairobi

Director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media Fr. Rif'at Bader said: "The world stands amazed while viewing the ability of evil and Satan to get hold of all groups of people by turning their joys into sorrows as well inflicting tragedies on families, nations and humans."

He added: "We pray that the Almighty God would bestow His Mercy upon the souls of the victims in both Lebanon and France. We also ask the Lord to give eternal life to the dead, to heal the wounded, and to give solace and tranquility to the bereaved families."

Pope Francis was welcomed by the country’s president, Yoweri Museveni. The Pope praised Uganda for opening its arms to refugees and criticised “the globalization of a ‘throwaway culture’”.

Francis visited the Kangemi slum that is home to over 100,000 people and lacks services and a sewerage system. He said we cannot disregard “the dreadful injustice of urban exclusion. These are wounds inflicted by minorities who cling to power and wealth, commit ourselves to ensuring that every family has dignified housing, access to drinking water, a toilet, reliable sources of energy for lighting”

In his homily for Mass at Central Park opposite the University of Nairobi, Francis called on people “to resist practices which foster arrogance in men, hurt or demean women, and threaten the life of the innocent unborn”.

At his first meeting on the second day of his visit to Africa, Francis met on Thursday, November 26, with leaders of other Christian denominations and other faiths, driving home the fact that the name of God “must never be used to justify hatred and violence”. Inter-religious dialogue “is not a luxury” it is “essential”, he explained.

“Violence and terrorism feed on the desperation that comes from poverty”

“Experience shows that violence, conflict and terrorism feed on fear, mistrust, and the despair born of poverty and frustration.” Francis said this in his first speech in Kenya, in which he addressed President Uhruru Kenyatta and the country’s authorities gathered under a big marquee in Nairobi’s State House garden.

While Mass-attendance rates have steeply declined over the last 30 years, today France is witnessing the rise of an increasingly self-confident—and dynamically orthodox—Catholicism.

The Pope's African trip to start on Wednesday, November 25,, will take him to Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic. His visit is to centre around dialogue between faiths, reconciliation, the fight against poverty and exclusion

The Pope's presence and gestures go hand in hand with his verbal message. But his physical presence in Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic during his visit to Africa which begins tomorrow and ends Monday, is far more important than the words he will pronounce.