In Pictures

Pope urges ‘essential’ interfaith dialogue in Africa

Pope Francis calls for African dialogue between Christianity and Islam – the continent’s fastest growing religions.

Pope Francis greets Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta during a meeting with government officials and members of the diplomatic corps at the State House in Nairobi, Kenya [Paul Haring/EPA]

26 Nov 2015

Pope Francis’ first Africa trip will highlight the problem of a lack of dialogue between Christianity and Islam, the two fastest growing religions on the continent.

On his first full day in Kenya, Francis insisted on Thursday that religion could never be used to justify violence and lamented that “all too often young people are being radicalised in the name of religion to sow discord and fear, and to tear at the very fabric of our societies”.

He said interfaith dialogue is not a luxury or optional, but is simply “essential”.

The 78-year-old will use his 11th overseas trip since taking office in 2013 to deliver a total of 19 speeches on peace, social justice, environmental protection, and interfaith dialogue.

In addition to Kenya, the pope is visiting Uganda and the Central African Republic during his six-day African tour.

Catholic faithful attend Sunday mass with a cardboard cut-out of Pope Francis inside the Holy Family minor Basilica parish, the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Nairobi [Thomas Mukoya/Reuters]

A supervisor checks the quality of copy of the Business Daily newspaper with an image of Pope Francis on its front page at a printing press on the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi [Thomas Mukoya/Reuters]

Pope Francis waves to faithful as he arrives for mass in Nairobi [Thomas Mukoya/Reuters]

A Catholic sister and a Maasai woman arrive just after dawn in the rain and mud to attend a mass given by Pope Francis at the campus of the University of Nairobi [Ben Curtis/AP]

Pope Francis is in Kenya on his first-ever trip to Africa, a six-day pilgrimage that will also take him to Uganda and the Central African Republic [Andrew Medichini/AP]

Catholic sisters wait in the rain and mud to attend mass led by Pope Francis [Ben Curtis/AP]

A man wearing a T-shirt with the picture of the pontiff ahead of his visit to the St Joseph the Worker Catholic Parish in Kangemi [Noor Khamis/Reuters]

Pope Francis stands next to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the State House palace in Nairobi [Stefano Rellandini/Reuters]

Tourists walk past a billboard welcoming Pope Francis to the country at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport [Daniel Irungu/EPA]

Members of Maasai tribe wait for Pope Francis to arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport [Goran Tomasevic/Reuters]

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