'Better fruit': Pope hopes to bridge Christian-Muslim fault lines in African tour
World
‘Better fruit’: Pope hopes to bridge Christian-Muslim fault lines in African tour
Pope Francis said on Wednesday that he wanted to offer “spiritual and material” support on his first tour of Africa, where he will address a fast-growing Catholic congregation and seek to heal divisions between Christians and Muslims. The pope arrives in Kenya later on Wednesday before traveling to Uganda, another nation targeted by Islamist militant attacks. After that, he will visit the Central African Republic, a country torn apart by Muslim-Christian strife. Pope Francis wants to bring a message of peace and reconciliation to an Africa torn by extremist violence.
Let’s hope this trip brings better fruit, both spiritual and material.
Pope Francis
Kenya has been the target of a spate of attacks by Somalia’s Islamist group al Shabaab in the past two years that have killed hundreds of people. In 2013, an assault by al Shabaab gunmen on a Nairobi shopping mall killed 67 people. Millions of Christians — Catholics and others — are expected to turn out for public celebrations of Mass, presenting a challenge for national security forces to keep the pontiff and the huge crowds safe.
We are living at a time when religious believers, and persons of goodwill everywhere are called to foster mutual understanding and respect, and to support each other as members of our one human family.
Pope Francis
