The Pope leaves Kenya for Uganda

Vatican City, 27 November 2015 (VIS) – After visiting the shantytown of Kangemi, Francis transferred by car to the Karasani stadium, situated 22 km outside Nairobi, in order to meet with the young people of Kenya. He gave an extemporaneous address in Spanish, in the form of answers to questions from those present, on issues such as tribalism, the recruitment of child soldiers, and the abandonment of families, and urged them not to give up when faced with difficulties but instead to consider them as an opportunity to overcome the situations that gave rise to them, emphasising the two pillars essential in this respect: education and work.

After his discourse, to be published tomorrow, Saturday, the Pope met with the bishops of Kenya in the stadium and then proceeded to the apostolic nunciature of Nairobi where he lunched. From there he travelled to the airport, where he was awaited by President Uhuru Kenyatta, and boarded his flight for Entebbe, the capital of Uganda, the second country to be visited by the Pope on his apostolic trip in Africa. This afternoon he is expected to visit the Ugandan president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, in his official residence, and will then address the civil and religious authorities and the diplomatic corps. The Holy Father's day will conclude with an encounter with catechists and teachers at the shrine of Munyonyo, where Uganda's first four martyrs were killed in 1886.