The Pope goes to Kenya

It rained on the Pope’s parade today. Quite literally. But it didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of the 300,000 Kenyans who crowded onto the University of Nairobi campus, despite heavy downpours, to hear and see Pope Francis celebrate his first public mass in Africa.

“People have been anticipating this visit for a long time and finally it is here,” says BBC East Africa correspondent Ann Soy. “In spite of the rainfall, many people turned up at the celebration of the mass. Some of them were waiting there from midnight, waiting for hours for the mass to start. And the government declared today a holiday, a day of prayer so that people didn’t need to go to work and that helped ease traffic in Nairobi.”

Though he’s known as the People’s Pope, Pope Francis didn’t get wet and muddy like the crowds of faithful. There were red carpets rolled out where he walked, even when he earlier planted a tree in front of the United Nations Nairobi headquarters. But in characteristic style, the pope rode from the airport not in a limousine, but in a small Honda. It was noticed by his adoring Kenyan fans, says Soy.

“That has really given him a lot of admirers here. People like his simple lifestyle and his humility,” she says.

Kenya has also suffered from religious extremism, not too unlike what Paris has gone through. Or what happened in Bamako, Mali, last week. So it was fitting that the pope has already addressed the issue of dialogue between different faiths by meeting today with religious leaders including Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus as well as traditional African religious leaders.

“The Pope emphasized the need for all these leaders to work together, to deal with the issue of youth who are radicalized to kill in the name of God. He said that no one should be allowed to promote hatred in the name of God.” The inter-religious meeting is seen as a way the Pope can emphasize the importance of them being at the forefront of fostering peace and dealing with extremism.

In addition to addressing religious terrorism, the Pope has also been hitting the theme of climate change during his Africa visit. Just days before the Paris summit, he’s been underscoring the idea that climate change represents one of the biggest challenges facing humanity. He called on scientists, delegates and policymakers who are going to Paris to consider the best way forward to be as sensitive of everyone rather than looking only at what he calls the ‘partisan interests’ that promote projects and plans of just a few people.”

There are many pressing issues for the Pope to tackle during his Africa visit to be sure, corruption, poverty the environment, religious extremism. But speaking off-the-cuff to some Kenyan seminarians, the Pope had more down to earth, practical advice. Pope Francis urged the Kenyan priests and nuns to serve others and not be served, saying “if you’re not up to the task, go find a new job and start a family.”

He told them to dedicate all their waking hours to serving others, and urged them not to waste their time watching TV.