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| Pope Francis in Africa: Peace and Reconciliation Is the Focus in Mozambique | Pope Francis in Africa: Peace and Reconciliation Is the Focus in Mozambique |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| MAPUTO, Mozambique — Pope Francis began his first full day in Mozambique on Thursday — his 31st trip abroad and his return to sub-Saharan Africa — with a visit to the presidential palace. | MAPUTO, Mozambique — Pope Francis began his first full day in Mozambique on Thursday — his 31st trip abroad and his return to sub-Saharan Africa — with a visit to the presidential palace. |
| After the pope’s tense years of grappling with his church’s sexual abuse crisis and tussles with conservative clergy, the trip to Mozambique, followed by visits to the islands of Madagascar and Mauritius, may offer Francis a chance to be the pontiff he wanted to be. | After the pope’s tense years of grappling with his church’s sexual abuse crisis and tussles with conservative clergy, the trip to Mozambique, followed by visits to the islands of Madagascar and Mauritius, may offer Francis a chance to be the pontiff he wanted to be. |
| Here, he will emphasize his signature issues — poverty, climate change and migration — while focusing on Africa’s centrality to the future of the Roman Catholic church and the contributions of his church to reconciliation in the war-scarred continent. | Here, he will emphasize his signature issues — poverty, climate change and migration — while focusing on Africa’s centrality to the future of the Roman Catholic church and the contributions of his church to reconciliation in the war-scarred continent. |
| In August, Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, signed a peace agreement with the leader of the country’s main opposition group, Renamo, requiring the disarmament of the party’s armed wing. | In August, Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, signed a peace agreement with the leader of the country’s main opposition group, Renamo, requiring the disarmament of the party’s armed wing. |
| The two sides had engaged in a brutal civil war that killed more than one million people after Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony, gained independence in 1975. The Catholic Church had played a major role in the peace agreement that ended the conflict in the early 1990s. | The two sides had engaged in a brutal civil war that killed more than one million people after Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony, gained independence in 1975. The Catholic Church had played a major role in the peace agreement that ended the conflict in the early 1990s. |
| In a speech at the colonial-era Ponta Vermelha Palace in Maputo, Francis expressed his happiness at returning to Africa and in seeing Mozambique’s “renewed future of peace and reconciliation.” | In a speech at the colonial-era Ponta Vermelha Palace in Maputo, Francis expressed his happiness at returning to Africa and in seeing Mozambique’s “renewed future of peace and reconciliation.” |
| Speaking before the country’s president and opposition leader, who recently signed a new cease-fire agreement, Francis stood flanked by Vatican and Mozambique flags and three wooden sculptures of stretching giraffes. | Speaking before the country’s president and opposition leader, who recently signed a new cease-fire agreement, Francis stood flanked by Vatican and Mozambique flags and three wooden sculptures of stretching giraffes. |
| “It is my prayer that, in this time that I will spend with you, I, too, in communion with my brother bishops and the Catholic Church in this land, can help make peace, reconciliation and hope reign definitively in your midst,” he said to an audience of dignitaries, diplomats and high-ranking clergy. | “It is my prayer that, in this time that I will spend with you, I, too, in communion with my brother bishops and the Catholic Church in this land, can help make peace, reconciliation and hope reign definitively in your midst,” he said to an audience of dignitaries, diplomats and high-ranking clergy. |
| He hailed the signing in the Gorongosa mountains last month of the cease-fire agreement between the country’s once-armed political opposition and its government. | He hailed the signing in the Gorongosa mountains last month of the cease-fire agreement between the country’s once-armed political opposition and its government. |
| “You have experienced suffering, sorrow and affliction,” Francis said, “but you have refused to let human relationships be governed by vengeance or repression, or to allow hatred and violence to have the final word.” | “You have experienced suffering, sorrow and affliction,” Francis said, “but you have refused to let human relationships be governed by vengeance or repression, or to allow hatred and violence to have the final word.” |
| The pope also expressed his and his church’s solidarity with those affected by Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, which devastated the country this year, and he urged the country to resist draining resources and wounding the environment via foreign interests. | The pope also expressed his and his church’s solidarity with those affected by Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, which devastated the country this year, and he urged the country to resist draining resources and wounding the environment via foreign interests. |
| Later in the day, Francis attended an interreligious meeting at the Maxaquene Pavilion, which burst with thousands of young people singing and cheering. Many were dressed in red, green, yellow and white shirts to create the semblance of the Mozambique flag in the stands. | Later in the day, Francis attended an interreligious meeting at the Maxaquene Pavilion, which burst with thousands of young people singing and cheering. Many were dressed in red, green, yellow and white shirts to create the semblance of the Mozambique flag in the stands. |
| Hundreds of young people sat in rows on the pavilion floor wearing shirts adorned with Francis’ face and the word “reconciliation.” In the bleachers, young Catholics looked over one another’s shoulders and climbed up on narrow parapets to better see the pope. | Hundreds of young people sat in rows on the pavilion floor wearing shirts adorned with Francis’ face and the word “reconciliation.” In the bleachers, young Catholics looked over one another’s shoulders and climbed up on narrow parapets to better see the pope. |
| A hush fell over the crowd as Francis began to speak, but they erupted as he impressed upon them that “You are important!” | A hush fell over the crowd as Francis began to speak, but they erupted as he impressed upon them that “You are important!” |
| Francis later met with the country’s bishops, priests, seminarians and other religious leaders at the Animator Cathedral, telling them to look ahead. | |
| Africa, and Mozambique in particular, have been sources of the priestly vocations that are in short supply in Europe. More and more often, Africa, what some scholars have taken to calling the church’s “priest basket” are exporting priests to the Western World. | |
| Keeping with his message of reconciliation weeks after the signing of a cease-fire and weeks before new elections test the country, Francis also urged the Catholic leaders to ensure that the church not “be part of the problem of rivalry, disrespect and division that pits some against others, but instead a door to solutions, a space where respect, interchange and dialogue are possible.” | |
| He also spoke about improving relations between his church, Islam and other Christian denominations, such as Evangelicals and Pentecostals, who are growing at a fast clip, insisting that the way of his church was evangelization and not proselytization. | |
| Francis arrived in Mozambique on Wednesday on a flight from Rome during which he inadvertently made news by scorning the right-wing conservatives in the United States who are opposed to his papacy. | Francis arrived in Mozambique on Wednesday on a flight from Rome during which he inadvertently made news by scorning the right-wing conservatives in the United States who are opposed to his papacy. |
| He said it was “an honor that the Americans attacked me.” | He said it was “an honor that the Americans attacked me.” |
| After his arrival, he stepped off the plane to a red-carpet welcome ceremony at the Maputo Airport. Greeted by Mr. Nyusi, who is facing elections in October that will be a test of the cease-fire, Francis stood on an elevated platform as a cannon fired in salute and a red-jacketed brass band played the Vatican and Mozambique anthems. | After his arrival, he stepped off the plane to a red-carpet welcome ceremony at the Maputo Airport. Greeted by Mr. Nyusi, who is facing elections in October that will be a test of the cease-fire, Francis stood on an elevated platform as a cannon fired in salute and a red-jacketed brass band played the Vatican and Mozambique anthems. |
| Soldiers cradling flashing bayonets stood at attention in green and white uniforms while dancers in traditional dress beat drums. The pope rode from the airport in his Popemobile as tens of thousands lined the streets of the city, cheering, singing and chanting, “Long live the pope.” | Soldiers cradling flashing bayonets stood at attention in green and white uniforms while dancers in traditional dress beat drums. The pope rode from the airport in his Popemobile as tens of thousands lined the streets of the city, cheering, singing and chanting, “Long live the pope.” |