Pope Francis will not address Kenyan Parliament

NAIROBI: The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, will not address the Kenyan Parliament in his November visit to Nairobi, The Standard has established.

The Vatican, Kenyan bishops and State House, Nairobi, who are in charge of the Pope's itinerary instead invited MPs for the Papal Mass at the University of Nairobi grounds.

The Catholic Parliamentarians Association Vice Chairman Chris Wamalwa (Kiminini) who is also the deputy minority whip in the National Assembly, told The Standard that the Pope's itinerary was "too tight" and the request for a special address to Parliament "came a bit too late".

"The request was done, but we were told that he will just be here for a short time and he was already booked for events, and as such, he will not address Parliament. He will instead hold a mass at the University of Nairobi, and I think that is where MPs will have to go," said Dr Wamalwa yesterday.

The MP said the lawmakers had asked the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops to change the venue of the Papal Mass to Uhuru Park but their request was still pending.

"So many people are coming to Nairobi from all over the continent and all over Kenya. I don't know if the university grounds will be sufficient," said Wamalwa.

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The MP, who met Pope Francis at Vatican City in September this year on the sidelines of the International Catholic Legislators Network Conference, said a group of MPs who have slums within their constituencies would be invited to a special meeting with the Pope at the residence of the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya – the Pope's representative in the country.

State House and the Apostolic Nuncio will have the final say on the itinerary of the Pope while in Kenya.

The visit will be Pope Francis' first trip to Africa that will see him also visit Uganda and the Central African Republic.

His African trip will run from November 25 to 30. The Pope had been invited by each of the three heads of states and local bishops.

Details of the Holy Father's three-nation African tour will be released in the coming weeks.