Pope in Uganda to honour martyrs

In the midst of the crowds in Kampala, a policewoman went into labour, giving birth to a baby girl that she named Franchesca – the female version of Francis, Uganda’s New Vision newspaper reported.

“I want to go to vehicle”.

“And because we’re brothers, we want peace”, he said. Tens of thousands of Muslim civilians fled for their lives to neighboring Chad and Cameroon.

On the other side of the sectarian divide, in another part of Bangui, some 15,000 Muslims are essentially blockaded in a neighborhood called PK5, unable to leave without fear of death at the hands of Christian militia fighters known as anti-Balaka who have the section encircled and enforce its boundaries with grenades.

Although many Kenyan Christians are deeply conservative, the country has been comparatively tolerant and now hosts about 500 gay refugees from neighboring Uganda.

He flies back to Rome on Monday.

Firstly, he told them to keep alive the testimony of the Ugandan martyrs, not allowing themselves to become too comfortable with superficial memories of the past, but continuing to be authentic witnesses to the faith today. “How can I not denounce the injustices which you suffer?” The precarious security situation in the capital of Bangui raised the possibility in recent weeks that the pope could cancel his visit.

Bangui, the capital of the former French colony, has seen a surge in clashes that have left at least 100 people dead since late September.

In comments upon his arrival Sunday, Francis told Interim President Catherine Samba-Panza and the diplomatic corps that he hoped upcoming elections will enable the conflict-torn country to “serenely begin a new phase of its history”.

In a nod to Francis’ appeal for personal soul-searching, she offered a public confession.

South Sudan is the world’s youngest country, having gained independence in 2011, and it has been wracked by internal conflict for much of its brief existence.

Security at the shrine was tight, with those entering the main area passing through metal detectors and police boats monitoring the moat surrounding the altar where Francis celebrated the service. Vatican gendarmes already on the ground when Francis arrived donned flak vests – an unusual if not unprecedented occurrence.

The Vatican estimates that some 300,000 people attended Pope Francis’ morning Mass in and around Uganda’s most important Christian shrine, far fewer than the 2 million predicted by shrine authorities.

Pope Francis, who has made the fight against human trafficking a major priority, is denouncing other forms of illegal trafficking during his first-ever visit to Africa.

The pope plans to visit a mosque in the country, sending a powerful message of religious unity. We need to examine our consciences, as individuals and as communities.

Muslim fighters killed her neighbor, decapitating the pregnant woman and trying to cut her baby from her belly, she said.

In one promising sign for the trip, the global Community of Sant’Egidio announced Saturday that all of the Republic’s presidential candidates had met for the first time that day with the group’s help to issue a joint statement of welcome to the pontiff before his arrival.

Many hope that the pope’s message of peace and reconciliation can encourage longer-term stability in this nation of 4.8 million.

“To those who tortured us, I am glad my heart has found love, forgiveness, peace and joy”, he said. “One Earth. Same Ancestor”. “I am taking advantage of all the security here to come”. Sitting on the dirt under a tent of scrap wood and tarp, she is comforted by her neighbors at the airport displaced-persons camp where she has lived for almost two years. At the same time, modern life also offers so many distractions which can boring our consciences, dissipate our zeal, and even lure us into that “spiritual worldliness” which eats away at the foundations of the Christian life. “For two years we have been crying”.

“We invited the pope to celebrate with us the 50 years since the canonization of the Uganda Martyrs”.