Since the announcement of the papal tour of Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic, many people referred to the risks derived from conflicts in that continent, but now the atmosphere of instability has worsened in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, which have mobilized all Europe.
In this panorama, the Pope's pilgrimage is much more significant, as he will be on the streets of African cities on an open popemobile without yielding to fear," said the Vatican Insider journal.
According to the Holy Seed Spokesman, Federico Lombardi, the major Pope's issues will be peace, the testimony of Christian martyrs, the interreligious dialog and the encounter with the poor and marginalized.
Regarding the first stop in Kenya, the Vatican Insider recalled the attacks occurred there in the past few years, "a land where violence and terrorism are fed by poverty and despair, but also by extremist indoctrination."
And against this, the Pope will insist that it is blasphemy to invoke the name of God to justify killings and massacres.
In Uganda, Pope Francis is expected to discuss social exclusion-related issues and the full participation of all in the life of society.
Though Uganda is a nation with abundant natural resources, this fails to translate into richness for all, but rather into a wider "gap between the few rich and the rest of the population," added the journal.
The last stop in the Central African Republic is considered the most delicate due to the violent clashes there. That's why the Pope's security, chief, the commander of the Vatican Police force, Domenico Giani, has been in Bangui, the capital, since Nov.20.
hr/rma/mgt/lmg
PL-5/MNA