The story appears on

Page A9

November 28, 2015

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » World

Pope hits out at wealthy elite for ‘sidelining’ poor

POPE Francis lashed out at wealthy minorities who hoard resources at the expense of the poor as he visited a crowded Kenyan slum yesterday, wrapping up the first leg of a three-nation African tour.

The 78-year-old pontiff was given a rapturous welcome as he arrived in the capital’s Kangemi slum, which is home to more than 100,000 people who live in shacks without sewerage.

“These are wounds inflicted by minorities who cling to power and wealth, who selfishly squander while a growing majority is forced to flee to abandoned, filthy and run-down peripheries,” he told crowds in the slum on the outskirts of Nairobi.

Several hours later, he left for Uganda, where he will spend two days before traveling to Central African Republic, a country hit by sectarian conflict.

On the eve of his arrival, Ugandan MPs passed a controversial bill that would give authorities sweeping powers to regulate civil society, which rights groups say will “strangle” criticism of the government.

The legislation would grant Uganda’s internal affairs ministry the power to supervise, approve, inspect and dissolve an organization in a move which could even see rights activists jailed for documenting abuses.

Veteran Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni, who is widely expected to be reelected next year for his third decade in power, has said he is “honored to host Pope Francis”, saying the pontiff’s “compassion for the poor and his frankness of spirit is an encouragement for all of us”.

Ugandans said they were looking forward to seeing the pope. “If he prays for us, change might come,” said Ugandan Simon Okitoi, a 48-year-old maintenance man who is planning to hear Francis speak in Kampala today, with more than 100,000 expected to attend.

“I like him, the way he presents himself... he’s down to earth,” said Etima Karim, 35, a Muslim motorbike taxi driver.

Many Ugandans appear as excited as in neighboring Kenya, where the enthusiasm never flagged over his three-day visit which included a vast open air mass where crowds sang and danced despite sometimes torrential rains.

Wild singing and ululating erupted as Francis arrived at Kangemi slum yesterday morning, his popemobile weaving through a sea of tin-roofed homes. “I am here because I want you to know that I am not indifferent to your joys and hopes, your troubles and your sorrows,” he told the worshippers, denouncing the “dreadful injustice of urban exclusion.”




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend