Pope Francis to visit Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic On his first Papal trip to Africa

The Vatican on Saturday released the official itinerary for Pope Francis’ Apostolic voyage to Africa.

According to the programme the Papal visit to Africa will kick-off on 25^th November and end on 30^th November.

The journey will be Pope Francis’ first to Africa since he took leadership of the Catholic Church in 2013.

The five-day visit to Africa will begin in Nairobi. He is expected to visit the St Joseph the worker parish on Friday 8:30 am, where he will conduct meetings with residents and faithful for one and a half hours.

The members of the church in Kangemi where Pope Francis will lead a mass, could not hide their joy at the privilege of welcoming the most revered spiritual leader among the catholic faithful across the globe.

The church is a bee hive of activities as its members run up and down in preparation of the maiden papal visit. Special garments to be worn on that particular day by the pontiff and the priests are among the preparations the church is undertaking.

Pope Francis, aside from being the head of the Catholic Church, is also the head of state for the Vatican state, a small city state inside Rome, Italy. It serves as the headquarters of the Catholic Church.

There are an estimated 7.5 million Catholics in Kenya that accounts for 33 percent of the population.

The pope’s schedule indicates he will arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta international airport on Wednesday evening and then hold a meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta at state house Nairobi.

Kenya’s administration and all the diplomats in the country who have been invited to the meeting will also spend half-an-hour with the pope at the presidential residence.

Pope Francis will be the fourth pontiff to visit Kenya. Kenya last hosted a pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church 20 years ago. Pope John Paul II was the last pope to visit the country in 1995, where he held meetings then President Daniels Arap Moi.

On Thursday 26^th the Holy Father will head to the residence of Apostolic Nuncio for an interdenominational meeting with religious leaders before heading for a papal mass at the university of Nairobi grounds.

Pope Francis will then hold another meeting with the clergy, religious men and women, and seminarians at St Mary’s School, Lavington. The pontiff will then head to the United Nations office in Nairobi.

On the 27^th November the Pope will conclude his three day visit to Kenya, after addressing a meeting of young people at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani, before meeting with all the catholic bishops later in the day.

President Uhuru Kenyatta will host a farewell ceremony in honor of the pope at the JKIA, before he departs Nairobi for Entebbe Uganda.

While in Uganda the pope is expected to visit a home for the disabled in Nalukolongo, a suburb of the capital, Kampala. He is also scheduled to visit the Anglican and the catholic martyrs’ shrines in Namugongo.