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Pope Francis in Kenya 2015

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The flag of Kenya

The flag of Kenya

Pope Francis went to Africa in November, 2015.  His first stop was in Kenya.  His plane landed in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. There were many people waiting to see the Pope including priests, Maasai people, and dignitaries like the President of Kenya.

“Pope Francis has called for ethnic and religious reconciliation after arriving in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, at the start of his landmark three-nation Africa trip.

In his first official trip to the continent, the pope called all Kenyans on Wednesday to work for peace and forgiveness and warned of the need to address poverty as a key driver of conflict.” Al Jazeera

Maasai tribe members wait for Pope Francis to arrive at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International AirportReuters/Goran (Tomasevic)

People from the Maasai tribe greeted the Pope with singing and dancing.  The Maasai wore traditional costumes that are for special occasions.

Pope Francis is met by traditional dancers during his visit to Kenya on the first leg of his three-nation trip to Africa

 

Nuns react at the arrival of Pope Francis at the St. Mary’s school to attend a meeting of clergy and religious in Nairobi, Nov. 26. Daniel Dal Zennaro / EPA

Kenyan soldiers check a monk as he arrives to attend a meeting with Pope Francis in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, Nov. 26. Stefano Rellandini / Reuters

 

Ben Curtis/AP A Catholic sister and a Maasai woman arrive just after dawn in the rain and mud to attend a Mass to be given by Pope Francis at the campus of the University of Nairobi in Kenya Thursday

Kenyans listen to Pope Francis’s holy mass on Nov. 26, in Nairobi’s Central Park. Pope Francis held his first open-air mass in Africa with huge crowds calling heavy rains “God’s blessing” as they sang and danced in the Kenyan capital.

Jennifer Huxta / AFP – Getty Images

 

Pope Francis waves to local residents as he drives to St. Joseph The Worker Catholic Church in the Kangemi slum of Nairobi, Kenya Friday, Nov. 27, 2015. AP Photo / Ben Curtis

Ben Curtis/AP Children gasp as they watch a Kenyan Police helicopter fly overhead, while awaiting for the arrival of Pope Francis at the St. Joseph The Worker Catholic Church in the Kangemi slum of Nairobi, Kenya on Friday

“I’m so happy, we are so blessed,” said Magdalene Mwikali, 36, of Kangemi.

“He’s left all those rich neighborhoods to come here,” she said. “He’s shown us we are important, that we matter, that God loves us, too.”

A boy holds a picture of Pope Francis as he awaits his arrival at the St. Joseph The Worker Catholic Church in the Kangemi slum of Nairobi, Kenya Friday, Nov. 27, 2015 AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

The 78-year-old pontiff was given a rapturous welcome as he arrived in the Kenyan capital’s Kangemi slum, which is home to more than 100,000 people who live in shacks without sewerage. “These are wounds inflicted by minorities who cling to power and wealth, who selfishly squander while a growing majority is forced to flee to abandoned, filthy and run-down peripheries,” he told crowds in the slum on the outskirts of Nairobi. Picture: EPA

“Pope Francis waded into the heart of a Kenyan shantytown Friday, spreading a message of acceptance and lashing out at the nation’s elite for neglecting the poor.

Francis’ visit to Kangemi aligned with his message of service to the poor during his three days in Nairobi.

In the sprawling slum filled with tin-roofed homes, he described injustices against the poor as “new forms of colonialism.”

The “dreadful injustice of social exclusion” leaves the poor with an unfair distribution of land, lack of access to infrastructure and minimal basic services, he said.

“Our world has a grave social debt toward the poor who lack access to drinking water because they are denied a life consistent with their inalienable dignity,” the Pope said.” iafrica.com

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