In
Kenya, Pope calls for peace, reconciliation
(Vatican
Radio) After a brief but vibrant welcome ceremony at the airport and a private
colloquium with Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta, Pope Francis immediately
delivered a wide ranging and hard-hitting discourse to political and civil
authorities and to members of the diplomatic corps, a discourse that – as Holy
See Press Office Director Father Lombardi pointed out during the evening media
briefing – was really a discourse to all the people of Kenya.
It
contained many of the themes that he is expected to address during this 6-day
African journey. It featured his concern for the youth who represent the future
and are – he said – the most valuable resource of the nation; it highlighted
his belief that violence, conflict and terrorism feed on fear, mistrust, and
the despair born of poverty and frustration; it voiced his appeal to men and
women of goodwill and to political leaders to work for reconciliation, peace,
forgiveness and healing; and - above all – it spoke of the grave environmental
crisis facing our world and of the urgent need to take responsibility for
creation and to exercise a just stewardship of the gifts we have received.
Afterwards,
as he travelled in an open pope-mobile to the Nairobi Nunciature to rest for
the night, he was blessed by the opening of the African skies and a downpour
fit for a Pope.
His
first appointment on Thursday morning was an ecumenical and interreligious
meeting. It was a particularly important moment in a nation as multi-cultural
as is Kenya and where different religious communities and religions play a
pivotal role in shaping a peaceful, free and democratic society. To the leaders
of different Christian confessions and other faiths he reiterated his firm
belief that religions play an essential role in forming consciences, instilling
profound spiritual values and training good citizens dedicated to the common
good.
He
also recalled the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and reaffirmed
the Church’s commitment to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue in the
service of understanding and friendship.
"As
we look to the future," Pope Francis concluded, "let us pray that all
men and women will see themselves as brothers and sisters, peacefully united in
and through our differences."
“Let
us pray for peace!”
(Linda
Bordoni is reporting from Nairobi.)
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