Pope to bridge faith faultlines in Africa

Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze wrote “The church has the task of reinforcing the conviction that monogamy is the way forward” in the preface to Christ’s New Homeland -Africa. Pope John Paul II visited so many African countries (42 in total) that he was nicknamed “The African”.

Pope Francis also issued a joint video message to the people of Kenya and Uganda, in which expressed his hope that the visit will “confirm” the Catholic communities of the region as they testify to the Gospel.

(Nairobi) – Pope Francis is due to start his first trip to Africa on November 25, 2015, with visits to Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

Each of the three countries have their own narratives of ethnic and sectarian division.

The Central African Republic, meanwhile, has been rocked by violence since the mostly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition toppled the president in 2013.

The Pope’s Kenya visit will conclude his Kenya tour with the coverage of the pontiff’saddress to the youth at Nairobi’s Kasarani stadium where Barack Obama also addressed an estimated 300 000-strong crowd while on his visit in July.

“Kenyans really need that reconciliation”, said Okello, an organizer of the papal visit.

“The goal of the caravan is to move as a group and pray together along the way with people of other faiths, the objectives are that each one of us prays for peace, chooses to embrace peace and to share that peace with others along the way”, said Archbishop Kivuva.

Indeed, Islamic extremists stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali on Friday and killed 20 people.

Pope Francis steps onto African soil for the first time on Wednesday to address the continent’s fast-growing Catholic congregation during a trip that will test his ability to bridge faultlines between Christians and Muslims.

“It’s all a charade”, the Pope said during a mass at Vatican City last Thursday, AFP reported.

Joseph Ntuwa is the parish secretary at Our Lady of Africa Catholic Church. African Catholics increased from seven to 16 percent between 1980 and 2012, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. The Catholic church holds that being gay is not a sin but homosexual acts are.

Father Anthony Gichure, a theologian and Catholic Church expert based in Nairobi, said the timing of Francis’ trip was important considering the high level of corruption and repeated violent attacks in the country. Homosexual sex is illegal in many of African countries and discrimination against homosexuals is prevalent through the continent.

Ugandan visitors look at moulded impressions of the Uganda Martyrs, who were murdered between 1885 and 1887 on the orders of a local king eager to thwart the influence of Christianity, at a shrine for them that Pope Francis is expected to visit later in the week, at Namugongo, a suburb in the east of Kampala, in Uganda Monday, November 23, 2015. Okello added, “We know his style is not one of condemning and he’s somebody who is very compassionate”.