Pastoral Visit to Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Central African Republic (November 2015)

Pope Francis has visited three Christian countries which are faced with the issue of coexisting with Muslims: in Kenya, 147 students, mostly Christians, were massacred in 2014 by the Somalian Islamist group al-Shabab; in Central African Republic (CAR), Christian and Muslim groups clash in bloody conflicts; in Uganda the rebel group ADF-NALU, Islamists of the Tablighi Jamaat movement, execute civilians with axes, machetes and firearms. In these three countries, approximately 10% of the population is Islamic. 

On November 25th, Pope Francis arrived in Nairobi (Kenya) accompanied by his delegation and 75 journalists. The Holy Father was welcomed at the presidential palace by President Uhuru Kenyatta, and addressed the public service and the diplomatic corps. He asked them to show real concern for the poor and for the aspirations of young people, to establish a fair distribution of natural and human resources, to work with integrity and transparency for “violence, conflict and terrorism feed on the fear, suspicion and despair generated by poverty and frustration.”

The next morning he presided over an interfaith meeting at the Nunciature: “Ecumenical and interfaith dialogue is not a luxury,” the Pope stated in presence of Anglican bishop Eliud Wabukala and the president of the Supreme Muslim Council, Abdulghafur El-Busaidy:

"It is an essential, it is something that our world, wounded by conflicts and divisions, needs more and more. (…) In this year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the closing of the council of Vatican II where the Catholic Church engaged itself to participate in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue with the goal of gaining understanding and friendship. I intend to reaffirm this engagement, which rose out of our conviction of the universality of the love of God and of the salvation He offers to all.”

At the Mass celebrated at the University of Nairobi, Pope Francis took up a stance in opposition to forced marriages, mutilation, and abortion:

“Through obedience to the Word of God, we are also called to resist practices that promote arrogance amongst men, that wound or show contempt for women, that do not show care for the most elderly and that threaten the lives of innocents not yet born.”

In the afternoon the Holy Father delivered an address to the clergy, religious and seminarians gathered together under a tent at the school of St. Mary of Nairobi. Welcomed by singing and dancing led by enthusiastic nuns, the Pope chose to speak freely in his native tongue, translated by a prelate from the Secretariat of State. The Pope advised those who had entered ‘through the window’ instead of ‘through the door,’ which is Christ, to renounce their vocation.

“When one follows Jesus, there is no room for personal ambition, nor for riches, nor to be an important person in the world. Jesus, we must follow to the last step of His life on this earth, the Cross.”

The Pope then travelled to the seat of the UN in Nairobi where, in front of 3000 people, he recalled the themes of his encyclical on the environment, calling for the war on poverty to join with the war on overexploitation of natural resources and climate change—a war which requires “the assimilation of a culture of protection; protection of oneself, protection of others, protection of the environment; and this instead of and in place of the culture of deterioration and rejection.”

On Friday November 27th, travelling to the underprivileged area of Kangemi where 200,000 live, including 20,000 Catholics, Francis met parishioners from St. Joseph’s Church, in the hands of the Jesuits. The Pope emphasized the values of solidarity, sharing, courage, and choice of lifestyle. He did not fail to condemn the injustice of urban marginalization in Nairobi, where nearly 60% of the population lives in seven slums surrounded by corruption, sexual abuse, alcoholic and drug addictions, etc. Then Francis joined 50,000 young Kenyans in the stadium of Kasarani in Nairobi. He thanked them for the rosaries they had prayed for his intentions, and he answered the questions of Linette and Manuel.

“The first thig I would answer is that a man loses what is best of his humanity, a woman loses what is best of her humanity, when they forget to pray, because then they think themselves all-powerful. The Sovereign Pontiff called on the young people not to sample the corruption that destroys everything and can be found everywhere, including in the Vatican."

The Visit Continues to Uganda
 

On November 27th, the Holy Father left Kenya for Uganda. Received by the President Yoweri Museveni in the palace of Entebbe, near Kampala (capital of Uganda), Pope Francis addressed the public service and the diplomatic corps: the Ugandan martyrs, both Catholic and Anglican, killed at the end of the 19th century in the persecution of King Mwanga II:

“[They] remind us also that in spite of our differences of belief and conviction, we are all called to search for truth, to work for justice and reconciliation, as we are to respecting ourselves, protecting ourselves and helping each other as members of the same human family.”

At the end of the day, Francis visited catechists and Catholic teachers in Munyonyo. Welcomed with exuberance by tribal dances and traditional singing, the Pope emphasized the importance of teaching children to pray, calling the bishops and priests to ensure the catechists receive dogmatic, spiritual and pastoral training. He paid homage to the martyrs who were willing to shed their blood to remain faithful to what they knew to be good, beautiful and true. Thanks to their witness, he noted, the Christian community in Uganda grew remarkably and King Mwanga did not succeed in his attempt to eliminate them.

The next day, November 28th, the Pope visited the Anglican and Catholic sanctuaries of the martyrs of Namugongo (22 Catholics and 23 Anglicans). Francis celebrated Mass outside, explaining in his sermon that “the witness of the martyrs teaches us all that worldly pleasures and worldly power do not give lasting joy and peace.”

On the contrary, he continued, “fidelity to God, honesty and integrity of life and true concern for the good of others brings us this peace that the world cannot offer.” Before leaving the sanctuary, the Pope asked the Anglican primate to bless him before the faithful. Christian unity, the Pope said, begins by their martyrdom as in Uganda by the past, and today in Syria, Iraq, and Egypt. And to encourage all Christians to grow closer to each other, he spoke of an “ecumenism of blood” which would seem to transcend the faith of the Catholic Church. After Mass, Francis travelled back to Kampala to meet Ugandan young people.

On his arrival at Kololo Air Strip, a former airport converted to a park, the Pope was received by numerous traditional dancers in colourful outfits, and by tens of thousands of youths literally going wild. Before speaking, the Pope heard two witnesses: Winnie Nansumba, age 24, and Emmanuel Odokonyero, former seminarian, kidnapped with 41 other young seminarians in May 2003 by the Lord’s Resistance Army, a supposedly Christian terrorist organization. He was tortured but succeeded in escaping three months later.

“It was not thanks to my own powers, but thanks to a merciful God who guided me through these difficult moments,” the young man said, explaining that he had pardoned his torturers. Pope Francis spoke next, improvising in his native tongue, and explained that “faced with such negative experiences there is always the possibility of broadening one’s horizons with Jesus.” For, he continued, “Jesus lived through the worst experience in history. He was insulted, rejected, assassinated. But by the power of God, He rose from the dead. He can do the same thing for each of us.”

Like a televangelist, the Pope then got the crowd involved by asking questions: “Are you ready to transform all the negative into positive? Are you ready to transform hatred into love? Are you ready to transform war into peace? Know that you are a people of martyrs! This is why you have the faith and the life that you have today.” And the enthusiastic crowd answered each time in chorus, “Yes!” He encouraged them never to tire of prayer, for prayer is the only “magic wand” to “let Jesus in.” And because in heaven “we have a Mother, pray to your Mother.” 

Visit to Bangui
 

Pope Francis arrived in Bangui, capital of Central African Republic, on November 29th. In the airport a particularly colourful welcome ceremony was surrounded by imposing security measures. Following a private interview with Catherine Samba-Panza, interim head of state, the Pope addressed Central African leaders and diplomats before the legislative and presidential elections planned for late December: “I come as a pilgrim of peace, and I appear before you an apostle of hope.” Then he went to Holy Saviour camp, which shelters 3,700 migrants. “We must work and do everything for peace,” the Pope said in Italian, “there is no peace without tolerance and forgiveness.”

Francis then went to visit the evangelical community of Central Africa and the Faculty of Evangelical theology. “For too long your people has been marked by trials and violence that cause so much suffering,” he said, confident that “this makes the evangelical message even more necessary and urgent.”

“I honour the spirit of mutual respect and collaboration that exists among the Christians of your country,” the Pope assured them, “and I encourage you to continue on this path in the common service of charity." The population includes 80% Christians of which approximately 20% are Protestant. On the 1st Sunday of Advent Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at the Cathedral of Bangui “in anticipation” of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, in “a land that has long suffered from war, hatred, misunderstanding, lack of peace.” He asked listeners in his sermon to “try forgiveness” and to “forgive”: “the love of our enemies, which fortifies us against the temptation of vengeance and against the spiral of endless reprisals.”

“To all those who unjustly use the weapons of this world,” the Pope declared, “I send out an appeal: lay down these instruments of death; arm yourselves rather with justice, love and mercy, true tokens of peace.” Then he came down to the foot of the altar to share a sign of peace with the imam and the evangelical pastor, members of the Interfaith Platform for Peace. At the end of Mass, Pope Francis exhorted young people to “resist when faced with difficulties,” adding that “flight is not a solution,” but that “prayer conquers evil.”

The next morning, the Holy Father visited the central mosque of Koudoukou in Bangui, guarded by a large security force. Welcomed by imam Tidiani Moussa Naibi, the Pontiff was accompanied by the Bishop of Bangui, Bishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga, and evangelical and Muslim members of the Interfaith Platform for Peace. “Christians and Muslims, we are brothers. We must consider ourselves as such, behave ourselves as such,” Francis assured 250 Muslims sitting cross-legged before him. In his Italian speech, the Pope exhorted his listeners to put an end to “all actions which, in one way or another, disfigure the face of God and whose ultimate purpose is to defend at all costs individual interests, to the detriment of the common good,” and invited them “to pray and to work for reconciliation, brotherhood and solidarity with everyone, without forgetting the persons who have suffered most from these events.”

At the end of the meeting, the Pope remained in silence before the mihrab (niche which indicates the direction of Mecca, towards which Muslims turn in prayer) beside the imam. Pope Francis’s final event in Central African Republic was to celebrate Mass in the Barthelemy Boganda stadium, where 30,000 people welcomed him with enthusiasm and young women dressed in traditional robes of pale green with white ribbons in their hair danced throughout Mass, performing choreographies to local music. He encourage Central Africans to “cross to the other bank,” meaning “eternal life, heaven where we are awaited,” through their “missionary commitment.” He also called for them to resist the “suggestions of the devil,” particularly lively in these times of conflict.

Commentary:
 

Of this pastoral visit, observers noted the expressive words—often improvised—and gestures of the Pope in favour of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue with Anglicans, Evangelicals and Muslims, as well as his constant preoccupation with ecology. On this topic, Francis was unable to attend the pro-climate march held in Paris on Sunday, November 29th, due to his African trip, so he had a pair of shoes sent in his stead, laid in the Place de la Republique as a sign of solidarity with the marchers.