It was with great joy and
happiness that the people of Uganda received the good news that Pope Francis
had scheduled a pilgrimage to Uganda, the Land of Martyrs, from 27-29 November.
It is an honour for the Church in Uganda and for all people of good will to
welcome the Holy Father and join him on this holy journey. On this occasion the
Church in Uganda is delighted to receive the Vicar of Christ, and withgreat
anticipation we are awaiting his message
of peace, mercy and hope. At the numerous gatherings at the selected locations in Kampala, our
capital city, the Church looks forward
to the challenges, to which the Holy Father will call us. For Christ said: “You
will be my witness” (Acts 1:18). Pope Francis’ visit to Uganda is
a testimony of the living and binding ministry our Lord Jesus Christ entrusted to Peter, when he
said: “feed my flock…. Take care of my sheep” (Jn 21:15-16). The Church in
Uganda draws her consolation from this universal mission of Peter with which,
we, the Bishops and the whole community of the People of God feel strengthened
in our faith and true witnesses of Christ’s light. The programme drawn up for
the Holy Father’s stay in Uganda signifies the vision of his ministry as that
of a “shepherd living with the odour of the sheep”. Uganda — described by British Prime Minister, Sir Winston
Churchill, in 1907 as the ‘Pearl of Africa’ — enjoys a privileged position
among African countries. It was the first country to have a large number of
canonized saints and it was the first country, in 1913, to have indigenous
priests, including the first indigenous
bishop south of the Sahara, who was ordained in 1939. Pope Francis is the third Supreme Pontiff to visit Uganda. In
1969, Blessed Paul VI was the first pope to visit Uganda. During
his visit, he challenged the Church in Africa, saying: “You Africans must be
missionaries to yourselves”. This message echoes the words of St Daniel Comboni
who, on becoming the Bishop of Central Africa in 1877, visualised missions in
Africa with his motto to “Save Africa with Africa”. The Comboni missionaries working
in northern Uganda, motivated by this motto, trained the local catechists Daudi
Okello and Jildo Irwa who, at Paimol in the Archdiocese of Gulu, while on mission to preach the message
of Jesus, were martyred in 1918. These two martyrs added another page of
Christian witness to the history of our country. St John Paul II’s missionary
journey to Uganda in 1993 brought consolation to a country that was
experiencing war and the notorious insurgency of Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army. Pope Francis’ visit is a moment
of grace. As a developing country we are looking forward to his message of caring
for our common home as described in his Encyclical Laudato Si ’. All
agents of evangelization look forward to receiving the Holy Father’s challenge
to be messengers of joy and to radiate the same joy in the work of
evangelisation as was highlighted in Evangelii Gaudium . Another theme so
dear to the Church’s life and ministry is that of the family. As Christians, we
appreciate the beauty of the family, and we recognize that family life as the
place where we come to learn the meaning and value of human relationships. The
Church in Uganda awaits Pope Francis’ invitation to uphold the traditional
Christian family understanding and values as founded on the relationship
between man and woman: “A man and a woman united in marriage, together with
their children, form a family. This institution is prior to any recognition by
public authority, which has an obligation to recognize it” (CCC 2202). Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, Archbishop of Kampala…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is scheduled to undertake a three-nation Apostolic Visit to Africa this week.
He leaves the Vatican on the morning of Wednesday, 25 Nov., and is scheduled to land in the early evening in Nairobi – Kenya – on the first leg of the trip that will also take him to Uganda and to Central African
Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni is in Nairobi where she is waiting for the Pope to arrive. She sent us this report.
Listen:
One of the highlights of our day here in Nairobi was definitely the sound of Fr Richard’s familiar voice, loud and clear, on the taxi radio as we wove through heavy downtown traffic.
Yes, it’s true, Vatican Radio really is listened to all over the world, and as Alex, our driver, confirmed, the Kiswahili Programme ranks high on the popularity charts, especially now as Kenya prepares to welcome Pope Francis on his very first visit to the African continent.
Meanwhile, the sprawling Kangemi slum that the Pope is going to visit – and that we were on our way to see – is one of seven slums in Nairobi alone.
You can’t miss it because it’s right in the middle of the bustling business hub that Nairobi has become as the nation continues to grow as a rising economic force in Africa – as witnessed by the hundreds of construction sites, shopping centres and the unmistakable buzz of business in the making.
And that’s also why the shocking poverty in which its 650,000 inhabitants live is a stark and uncomfortable reminder of the widening gap and harrowing divide that separates the few that have much more than enough, and the many who go to bed with a big hole in their stomachs because they have no food and no future.
But a visit to the Parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Kangemi, feverishly preparing to receive Pope Francis on Friday, gave me the chance to chat to some of the faithful polishing the floors of the Church, practicing their songs, making the small garden as beautiful as it can be.
When I asked them what their appeals to Pope Francis will be when he visits the nation this is what they told me:
That he may deliver a message of peace and encourage religious tolerance and mutual acceptance;
That he may be able to lead us on the right path;
That he pray for families and that the youth stay away from drug abuse;
That he may address issues of corruption, tribalism, terrorism and encourage our political leaders to preach peace and unity instead of divisive politics.
And finally, as Beth so beautifully put it: “We are inspired by his humility. May all those in positions of leadership emulate him by putting God and the needs of the less fortunate in society first. Francis – she said – you are an inspiration to many!”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Church remains faithful if she keeps her eyes fixed on Jesus, but she becomes lukewarm and mediocre if she seeks comfort in worldly things. That was Pope Francis’ message on Monday as he reflected on the Gospel reading at Mass in the Casa Santa Marta… Listen to our report: Pope Francis noted that the reading from St Luke’s Gospel tells the story of the widow who puts her two coins in the temple treasury box, while other wealthy worshippers make a great show of the money they’re putting in. Jesus says that “this poor widow put in more than all the rest” because the others were giving away money from their surplus wealth, while she, in her poverty, “has offered her whole livelihood”. In the Bible, Pope Francis said, the widow is the woman who is alone, who has no husband to look after her, who has to manage on her own, who survives on charity. The widow in this Gospel passage, he said, was “a widow who had placed her trust only in the Lord”. I like to look at the widows in the Gospel, he said, as an image of the “widowed” Church who is waiting for Jesus to return. The Church is the bride of Christ, Pope Francis said, but her Lord has gone and her only treasure is in her Lord. If the Church remains faithful, then she leaves everything while waiting for her Lord to return. If she does not have so much faith in the love of her Lord, then she tries to get by in other ways, seeking security in things that are more of this world than of God. The widows of the Gospels, the Pope continued, speak beautifully to us about Jesus and His Church. There is the widow of Nain who was crying as she accompanied her son to be buried outside the city gates. There is the widow who goes to the unjust judge in order to defend her sons, knocking on his door every day and bothering him continuously until he delivers a just sentence for her. This is the widowed Church who prays and intercedes for her children, Pope Francis explained. But the heart of the Church is always with Jesus, the Bridegroom in heaven. According to the desert fathers, the Pope said, our souls also resemble the Church, and the closer our souls, our lives, are to Jesus, the more we are able to avoid worldly, useless things that lead us away from Christ. While the ‘widowed’ Church waits for Jesus, he said, she can be faithful, trusting that her husband will return, or she can be unfaithful to her widowhood, a lukewarm, mediocre, worldly Church seeking comfort in other things. In these last days of the liturgical year, Pope Francis concluded, we would do well to ask ourselves if our souls are searching for the Lord, or if they’re looking for comfort in things which do not please the Lord. Let our souls say “Come Lord Jesus! Come!” And may we leave behind all those useless things which stop us staying faithful. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday morning received the Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda, Sir Rodney Williams. The governor-general later met with the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, who was accompanied by the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.
Antigua and Barbuda is a two-island nation on the Atlantic edge of the Caribbean Sea, with a population of just over ninety-thousand, of whom around ten-percent are Catholic. Once a British colony, Queen Elizabeth II remains the head of state, with the Governor-General serving as her official representative.
A statement from the Holy See Press Office called the meeting “cordial,” and said the meeting underlined good bilateral relations, which have recently been strengthened by the appointment by Antigua and Barbuda of an Ambassador accredited to the Holy See.
The statement said the talks also focused on the contribution the Catholic Church makes in the protection and promotion of the dignity of the human person, as well as in the fields of education and social assistance. It called for a “fruitful and mutual” collaboration.
Finally, the discussions touched on some regional and global issues, with particular attention paid to migration and climate change.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday sent a video message to the people of the Central African Republic, on the eve of his visit to the country this Saturday, November 28th.
In his video message, Pope Francis told the people of the Central African Republic of the “joy which pervades me” on the occasion of his first visit to Africa and, in particular, to the CAR.
The Holy Father said, “Your dear country has for too long been affected by a violent situation and by insecurity of which many of you have been innocent victims. The goal of my visit is, above all, to bring you, in the name of Christ, the comfort of consolation and hope. I hope with all my heart that my visit may contribute, in one way or another, to alleviate your wounds and to favor conditions for a better, more serene future for Central Africa and all its inhabitants.”
Pope Francis then reminded them that the theme of his visit is “Let us pass to the other side”, saying that it invites Christian communities “to look ahead with determination and encourages each person to renew their own relationship with God and with their brothers and sisters to build a new, more just and fraternal world”.
At the heart of the Holy Father’s 6-day journey, taking him to Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic is his desire to bring a message of peace, reconciliation, dialogue and the impetus to overcome internal divisions.
In war-torn CAR he will open Bangui Cathedral’s Holy Door in a powerful gesture leading up to the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
One of Pope Francis’ last commitments before he boards the Papal plane bringing him back to Rome on November 30, will be a visit to Bangui’s Central Mosque for a meeting with the Muslim community.
(from Vatican Radio)…