1988: Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambiqueĭuring this trip, Pope John Paul II arrived in the Kingdom of Lesotho before a bloody shootout between police and gunmen who hijacked a busload of nuns and children while demanding to see the pope. He ended the tour with a plea to Muslims and Christians to put aside their differences and work together to create a better world. In a homily in Lome, the Togolese capital, he said he wanted to preach a faith that was ”authentically Christian and authentically African” in response to the matter of Catholicism adapting to traditional African practices. During his visit to the country five years earlier, he had blessed the foundation stone as construction began. This third tour of Africa was in August 1985, and his 27th trip outside Italy.ĭuring this tour, he dedicated the biggest church in the world, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, the capital of Ivory Coast. In the northern city of Kaduna, he called for unity at a gathering of Muslim religious leaders, saying: “All of us, Christians and Muslims, live under the sun of the one merciful God.” Pope John Paul II waves to the crowds during a visit to Ibadan, Nigeria on Febru 1985: Togo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Morocco He then celebrated mass for approximately 20,000 people at the stadium in Cotonou.Īfter five days in five Nigerian cities, including Lagos and Onitsha, the pope said the visit left him with “‘an unforgettable memory of a country which is a credit to Africa, to the world and to the church of Jesus Christ”. In Benin where church-state relations were rocky, he listened as President Matthieu Kerekou delivered a lecture on ‘the socialist struggle’, according to the UPI news agency. John Paul II’s second tour took place in February 1982, nine months after an attempt on his life. On his last day, he also said: “There is a great temptation to demolish instead of building, to procure weapons at a great price for populations that need bread, to want to seize power – sometimes confronting one ethnic group with another … while the poor sigh for peace, succumb to the desire for profit benefitting a privileged class.” Pope John Paul II arrives in Nairobi, Kenya, and celebrates a mass on 1982: Nigeria, Benin, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea The donations received set in place the foundations for the establishment of the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel in 1984.ĭuring his trip, he reportedly criticised Marxism as an ideology and welcomed the religious enthusiasm he encountered. In Ouagadougou, the capital of Upper Volta, he made an appeal for international assistance for the country as it suffered a devastating drought. At the time the Democratic Republic of the Congo was known as Zaire and Burkina Faso was known as Upper Volta. 1980: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coastĭuring his first African tour, he visited six countries in 11 days.

Pope John Paul II travelled widely throughout Africa during his more than 26-year pontificate. Pope Paul VI standing in an open car waves to the crowd jamming the road to welcome him to Africa, accompanied by Archbishop of Kampala Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga, right, in Kampala, Uganda Pope John Paul II During his visit, twenty-two Catholic martyrs were canonised. Among other activities, Paul VI made a pilgrimage to the Uganda Martyrs Shrine Namugongo. It was a major event when he visited Uganda in 1969. Pope Paul VI bucked the trend and became the first reigning pope to visit Africa. In the 1960s, popes didn’t travel much outside Vatican City. We take a look at previous papal visits to the continent. But he was determined to undertake the visit, which will bring to 10 the number of African countries he has visited. The 86-year-old had to postpone the trip last year after suffering knee problems.

Pope Francis is visiting the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, his fifth trip to Africa since being elected head of the Catholic Church in 2013.

Republic of upper volta refugees