Pope Francis symbolically opens a gate to peace at Bangui Cathedral in the Central African Republic on November 29, 2015, appealing during a landmark mass to warring factions and urging them to “lay down these instruments of death” (AFP Photo/Giuseppe Cacace)
Pope Francis on Sunday urged the warring factions in Central African Republic to lay down their weapons as he brought a message of peace to a country ravaged by sectarian violence.
“To all those who make unjust use of the weapons of this world, I make this appeal: lay down these instruments of death!” he said in the capital Bangui after flying in from Uganda on his final leg of a three-nation tour of Africa, which he has hailed as “the continent of hope.”
As his plane touched down, those waiting burst into cheers and singing as he began a 24-hour visit to one of Africa’s poorest and most unstable countries on a trip that has had his security detail working overtime.
For the short ride to the presidential palace, Francis travelled in his open-topped popemobile, with huge crowds, many of them children and young people, cheering wildly as he passed, some waving branches in a sign of peace.
“I come to the Central African Republic as a pilgrim of peace and as an apostle of hope,” said the 78-year-old pontiff who began his African tour on Wednesday with a three-day visit to Kenya.
The first papal visit to a conflict zone elicited an outburst of emotion from overwhelmed locals.
“After all we’ve been through… I just don’t know what to say. He really did it, he came to us!” said Rachel, a young woman, her voice breaking with emotion as she recounted how she managed to push through the crowd to touch the hand of the pope.
Thousands lined the streets of Bangui, capital of the …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
