Video messages recorded by the Holy Father, Pope Francis in preparation for his upcoming visit, which will take place from November 25 to 30, were broadcast in Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic today.
Dear Friends,
As I prepare to visit Kenya and Uganda later this month, I send a word of greeting and friendship to you and your families. I look forward to this time we will have together.
I am coming as a minister of the Gospel, to proclaim the love of Jesus Christ and his message of reconciliation, forgiveness and peace. My visit is meant to confirm the Catholic community in its worship of God and its witness to the Gospel, which teaches the dignity of every man and woman, and commands us to open our hearts to others, especially the poor and those in need.
At the same time I wish to encounter all the people of Kenya and Uganda, and to offer everyone a word of encouragement. We are living at a time when religious believers, and persons of good will everywhere, are called to foster mutual understanding and respect, and to support each other as members of our one human family. For all of us are God’s children. A highlight of my visit will be my meetings with young people, who are your greatest resource and our most promising hope for a future of solidarity, peace and progress.
I know that many people are working hard to prepare for my visit, and I thank them. I ask everyone to pray that my stay in Kenya and Uganda will be a source of hope and encouragement to all. Upon you and your families I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!
Dear brothers and sisters in the Central African Republic,
A few days before the voyage that will bring me to you, I want to tell you about the joy that is in my heart, and I want to greet each of you with the greatest affection, regardless of your ethnicity or your religion. This is the first time in my life that I will step foot on the African continent, so beautiful and rich in nature, her people and her cultures; I am looking forward to beautiful discoveries and enriching encounters.
For far too long already, your beloved country has known situations of violence and insecurity and many of you have been innocent victims of these realities. The goal of my visit is first to bring you, in the name of Jesus, the comfort of consolation and hope. I hope with all my heart that my visit will contribute, in one way or another, to tending to your wounds and to opening up a more serene future for Central Africa and for all her inhabitants.
The theme of this voyage will be: let us go to the other side. It is a theme that invites your Christian communities to resolutely look ahead, and to encourage each person to renew his or her relationship with God and with his or her brothers and sisters in order to create a world that is more just and fraternal. I will have the joy of opening for you - a bit ahead of time - the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which will be for all of us, I hope, a providential occasion for celebrating authentic forgiveness, to receive and to give this gift and to be renewed in love.
I am coming as a messenger of peace. I want to support inter-religious dialogue in order to encourage peaceful cohabitation in your country; I know that it is possible since we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.
I ask you to pray for me. I beseech the help of the Virgin Mary and I look forward to seeing you very soon.
Text of the Video-message recorded by His Holiness, Pope Francis
and sent to the people of Kenya and Uganda
Dear Friends,
As I prepare to visit Kenya and Uganda later this month, I send a word of greeting and friendship to you and your families. I look forward to this time we will have together.
I am coming as a minister of the Gospel, to proclaim the love of Jesus Christ and his message of reconciliation, forgiveness and peace. My visit is meant to confirm the Catholic community in its worship of God and its witness to the Gospel, which teaches the dignity of every man and woman, and commands us to open our hearts to others, especially the poor and those in need.
At the same time I wish to encounter all the people of Kenya and Uganda, and to offer everyone a word of encouragement. We are living at a time when religious believers, and persons of good will everywhere, are called to foster mutual understanding and respect, and to support each other as members of our one human family. For all of us are God’s children. A highlight of my visit will be my meetings with young people, who are your greatest resource and our most promising hope for a future of solidarity, peace and progress.
I know that many people are working hard to prepare for my visit, and I thank them. I ask everyone to pray that my stay in Kenya and Uganda will be a source of hope and encouragement to all. Upon you and your families I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!
Text of the Video-message recorded by His Holiness, Pope Francis
and sent to the people of the Central African Republic
Dear brothers and sisters in the Central African Republic,
A few days before the voyage that will bring me to you, I want to tell you about the joy that is in my heart, and I want to greet each of you with the greatest affection, regardless of your ethnicity or your religion. This is the first time in my life that I will step foot on the African continent, so beautiful and rich in nature, her people and her cultures; I am looking forward to beautiful discoveries and enriching encounters.
For far too long already, your beloved country has known situations of violence and insecurity and many of you have been innocent victims of these realities. The goal of my visit is first to bring you, in the name of Jesus, the comfort of consolation and hope. I hope with all my heart that my visit will contribute, in one way or another, to tending to your wounds and to opening up a more serene future for Central Africa and for all her inhabitants.
The theme of this voyage will be: let us go to the other side. It is a theme that invites your Christian communities to resolutely look ahead, and to encourage each person to renew his or her relationship with God and with his or her brothers and sisters in order to create a world that is more just and fraternal. I will have the joy of opening for you - a bit ahead of time - the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which will be for all of us, I hope, a providential occasion for celebrating authentic forgiveness, to receive and to give this gift and to be renewed in love.
I am coming as a messenger of peace. I want to support inter-religious dialogue in order to encourage peaceful cohabitation in your country; I know that it is possible since we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.
I ask you to pray for me. I beseech the help of the Virgin Mary and I look forward to seeing you very soon.
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