“We want to assure Kenyans of their safety during the visit by the Pope”, he said.
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“I would like the Pope to at least make people know that being LGBT is not a curse”, said Jackson Mukasa, a Ugandan in Kampala who was jailed past year on suspicion of committing homosexual acts, before charges were dropped for lack of evidence.
The progression of gay rights in the USA and Europe, where same-sex couples can marry and adopt children, has encouraged gay Africans but discouraged those who object to the idea on religious grounds, Reuters reports.
Besides the Kenyan security, guarding the Vicar of Christ has been taken a notch higher by both the Vatican and the Catholic Church.
As believer numbers dwindle in many industrialised countries, Africa has picked up the slack.
The globe-hopping Pope Francis is planning public masses, meetings with religious and political leaders and the opportunity to promote reconciliation and unity during his upcoming five day trip to three African countries. If the Catholic Church hopes to continue growing, Africa must be at its heart.
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. Now retired, Senyonjo has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of Uganda’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender population, saying that they are all equal before God.
Joseph Ntuwa is the parish secretary at Our Lady of Africa Catholic Church. “The spiritual leaders in Uganda have actually incited the Ugandan society against gay people”, said Anthony Musaala, a Catholic priest who was suspended in 2013 after a paper he wrote exposing alleged transgressions by Ugandan priests was leaked to the local press.
Monsignor Abel Gabuza, a South African bishop, hopes Francis will energize African Catholics with his message of inclusiveness and issue for the less lucky.
Pope Francis waves to the crowd from his popemobile during a parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 27, 2015.
“I believe Pope Francis when his message might be about us not condemning the homosexuals, but us trying to help them”, he said, “because you get some of them who were just trained”.
Despite the fact that the United Nations has deployed 300 extra personnel to provide security for the pope’s visit, tensions are still high, and the papal security team says that it may have to cancel the pope’s visit at the last minute. But, he added, “As every wise person would, we’re monitoring the situation”.
Although many Kenyan Christians are very conservative, the country has been quite tolerant and now hosts some 500 gay refugees from neighbouring Uganda.
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However, gay activists, hopeful that the pope may attack the draconian anti-gay laws of a country like Uganda, may be disappointed.
