David Kuria, a Kenyan gay rights activist, did not hesitate when asked about the message he would give to the pope ahead of the visit.
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The pontiff arrives in Kenya on Wednesday on his first African trip, which will also take him to the Central African Republic after Uganda.
Large crowds are expected to flock to the event. The pope is likely to hark back to his bishops in speaking out against “ideological colonization”, a term for attempts by the West to encourage policies including contraception in developing countries, often as a state for development aid.
In a telegram at the Vatican said the Pope “strongly condemned” the Mali attacks. We are all working in that direction.
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Potentially the most hazardous stop of his trip is the third leg to the Central African Republic, where dozens have died since September in violence between Muslim Seleka rebels and Christian anti-balaka militias.
In an interview, the father of 11 said the award, accompanied by inspirational words from the Pope, bolstered his spiritual strength at the most trying time of his life when he had lost four of his children, all of them PhD degree holders, and successful professionals.
The religious order priest described the situation in the country, located on the continent between South Sudan and Cameroon, as fairly dire.
“I hope the Pope would say, ‘Love everyone, ‘ especially those who are still coming to church”. The country is under control of a transition government that is supposed to hold elections by December.
One of his last engagements before he returns to Rome on November 30 is a visit to Bangui’s Central Mosque for a meeting with the Muslim community, Vatican Radio reported.
The closure of major roads in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, could also cost local businesses.
But Francis considers his visit to the CAR’s capital city, Bangui, to have enormous symbolic importance. The militants have carried out a number of attacks in Kenyan churches; their bloodiest assault was on April 2 when they killed more than 140 students at Garissa University in northern Kenya.
After his visit in Kenya concludes Friday, Francis will head to Uganda. And the sheep majority are those who are suffering, those who are in anguish and those who are poor.
“Jesus never condemned anybody so that’s what he’s also doing”, she said.
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Frank Mugisha, a Catholic who is the executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, told the Financial Times that he would be “very disappointed” if the pope did not address LGBT issues. Riskiest trip To date the trip to Africa will be riskiest that the Pope has made since he was elected as the Roman Catholic pontiff in March 2013. “This will help change perceptions in terms of security and safety of visitors”.
