The pope will address the faithful in a public Mass at Nairobi University on Thursday, declared a national holiday, and is expected to seek to heal ethnic rifts that have long plagued Kenya.
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The 78-year-old pontiff said environmental concerns should be at the forefront of “responsible” economic development. Uganda, where al Shabaab carried out attacks in 2010, has also promised tight security.
Earlier, three Roman Catholic Bishops from Tanzania were expected to represent the country at a Special Mass in Kampala, Uganda, but one bishop opted out due to other commitments at home.
The conservative U.S. television show ran a segment on Wednesday ahead of Pope Francis’ trip to Kenya, as part of his first official visit to the African continent.
“His holy Name must never be used to justify hatred and violence”, Pope Francis told religious leaders of different faiths, citing “barbarous attacks” by Islamic extremists in Nairobi, Garissa and Mandera.
However, when asked if he was nervous, Francis quipped that mosquitoes were the only thing causing him concern.
The flags of both Kenya and the Vatican flew from the airplane’s cockpit as it taxied to a stop, where Francis was met by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta with a red carpet welcome.
As a whole, Catholics in Africa are growing in terms of numbers, and the Church had an estimated 200 million adherents in 2012 – though that number is expected to reach half a billion in 2050. In November 2014, more than 20 Christians travelling on a bus near the border with Somalia were taken hostage and murdered by the group, while the 2013 siege of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi left 67 dead. “In that spirit, I encourage you to work with integrity and transparency for the common good, and to foster a spirit of solidarity at every level of society”, Francis said.
Having remarked on the extraordinary beauty of Kenya, he added: “The grave environmental crisis facing our world demands an ever greater sensitivity to the relationship between human beings and nature”.
Thousands of ebullient Kenyans greeted Pope Francis upon his arrival to the country on Wednesday.
Kenyan media has stated at the least 10,000 police will deployed in the capital for the Kenya leg, which features a go to to the regional D.I. headquarters in Nairobi the place the pope is predicted to handle local weather points.
The Pope is said to be stubbornly resisting any curtailment of his schedule but ultimately it is his security advisers who will decide.
In the Central African Republic, he will visit a mosque in one of the most unsafe districts of the capital Bangui.
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“There is a clear link between the protection of nature and the building of a just and equitable social order”, the pontiff said in a speech before Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and other dignitaries in Nairobi at the start of a six-day Africa tour.
