{"id":20959,"date":"2015-11-01T23:58:11","date_gmt":"2015-11-01T23:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/countdown-begins-for-pope-s-visit\/"},"modified":"2015-11-02T02:14:29","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T02:14:29","slug":"countdown-begins-for-pope-s-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/countdown-begins-for-pope-s-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya:Countdown begins for Pope\u2019s visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

{The government of Kenya released on Sunday a programme for Pope Francis\u2019 visit, with a Holy Mass at the University of Nairobi being the highlight of his trip beginning November 25.}<\/p>\n

He will hold talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta and some groups at which peace, inclusivity and religious tolerance will be on top of the agenda.<\/p>\n

State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu, accompanied by Bishop Alfred Rotich, chairman of the secretariat handling the pope\u2019s visit, told journalists in Nairobi that Pope Francis will also talk about the fight against poverty and climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese issues are obviously relevant for Kenya in this season,\u201d Mr Esipisu said Sunday, adding that the government will also provide weekly updates on the planning for the State and pastoral visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pope is reaching out to all religions and all the people. He has a very humane message that he is sending, which is very appropriate not just for Kenya, but for the whole world today,\u201d said Mr Esipisu.<\/p>\n

He said teams from the Vatican and the government continue to work closely.<\/p>\n

The spokesman disclosed that this week, another advance team from the Vatican will visit the country, as consultations and preparations continue.<\/p>\n

{{Inter-religious meeting}}<\/p>\n

Mr Esipisu said the pope will arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on November 25 and will be received by President Kenyatta and the archbishop of Nairobi, Cardinal John Njue.<\/p>\n

On that day, he will hold discussions with the President before making special addresses to the nation.<\/p>\n

On November 26, the pope will have an inter-religious meeting at the Nuncio\u2019s (the pope\u2019s representative in Kenya) and then head to the University of Nairobi to celebrate Holy Mass.<\/p>\n

Mr Esipisu said Pope Francis will later address the Catholic community at St Mary\u2019s. He will eventually address members of the diplomatic corps at the United Nations offices in Gigiri.<\/p>\n

On the last day of his visit, November 27, he will address the youth from across the country at Kasarani Stadium, before visiting Kangemi to assess the Catholic Church\u2019s work in that community.<\/p>\n

Mr Esipisu said Pope Francis will travel with a group of 80 journalists on his aircraft, who will stay at the Kempinski, where they will also have a media centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be a secondary media centre at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, as well as working space for journalists and live television locations at the Safaricom Stadium in Kasarani,\u201d said Mr Esipisu.<\/p>\n

He said four Kenyan journalists had been selected to travel on the papal plane.<\/p>\n

They will be required to travel to the Vatican and continue on the journey from Kenya to Uganda and the Central African Republic.<\/p>\n

{{National prayers}}<\/p>\n

Mr Esipisu added that the inspector-general of police will give a security brief at an appropriate time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I can confirm that security arrangements are in place, and continue to be fine-tuned regarding the visit. Considering that we expect as many as a million Kenyans to converge on Nairobi, this is a massive security operation and it is being given all the seriousness it deserves,\u201d said Mr Esipisu.<\/p>\n

He said the police will designate drop-off points so that individuals who wish to attend Mass can find their way with minimum worries.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Bishop Rotich called on Kenyans to join in prayer ahead of the visit, and seek peace and tolerance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge an end to the ethnic undertones and inciting remarks by leaders who were elected to protect the welfare of all the people,\u201d said Bishop Rotich.<\/p>\n

He went on: \u201cWe call for national prayers and conversation. Let us make this opportunity to seek a new life and a new beginning in our country, our families and our places of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

He regretted the recent political name-calling and ethnic incitement.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur country and the people of Kenya already have to contend with many afflictions such as the escalating economic challenges but cannot contend with disunity at the leadership level,\u201d said Bishop Rotich.<\/p>\n

{{Harambee of efforts}}<\/p>\n

He said Kenyans should work together to seek solutions to problems facing the country.<\/p>\n

The cleric added that choirs that will sing during the papal Mass were practising in different parishes all over the country, and registration of the young people who will spend time with the the pope was almost concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge our Christians to continue registering at their parishes to come and receive the Holy Father. Every Catholic parish in Kenya is required to send three buses of pilgrims for the main Mass on November 26,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/figure>\n

DAILY NATION<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{The government of Kenya released on Sunday a programme for Pope Francis\u2019 visit, with a Holy Mass at the University of Nairobi being the highlight of his trip beginning November 25.} He will hold talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta and some groups at which peace, inclusivity and religious tolerance will be on top of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000069960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[99],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-20959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000069960,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20959.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20959.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20959.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20959.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20959.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20959.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000069960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20959"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=20959"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=20959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}