Pope Francis To Visit Africa: Pontiff To Reconcile Differences Between Christians & Muslims in the Continent

Pope Francis will be making his journey to Africa in order to reconcile the issues of war and religion. Though Africa remains faithful to the Catholic Church, the recent rise in Islam has posed a tough challenge to the continent.

Yahoo reports that this may very well be the Pontiff's most perilous journey yet. While the numbers in the faithful continue to dwindle in many industrialized countries, Africa has picked up the slack. In 1980, it was found that one in seven Catholics are born in Africa, and in 2012 the figure had risen to one in six.

Pope Francis is due to visit three African countries- Uganda, Kenya and the Central Africa Republic, all of which would pose a threat to his security. In all three places that he is due to visit, the Pope will find many Christian communities to be at war against radical Islamic idealism.

Uganda and Kenya, for instance are involved in battling jihadists in Somalia. These Somalian jihadists killed 148 people at Kenya's Garissa University in April of this year. Central Africa has also seen its fair share of gruesome scenes of violence between Christians and Muslims.

Fox News Latino reports that this will be Pope Francis' first visit to Africa and that the attacks that struck both Paris and Mali will be a key theme in the Pontiff's Nov. 25-30 trip to the three African countries.

Rev. Stephen Okello, who is a Catholic priest in Kenya, recalled the ethnic violence which killed more than 1,000 people. He said that the people of Africa, particularly Kenya needed that sense of reconciliation and that many of the people in Africa were in dire need of Pope Francis' message of hope and peace.

The Jesuit Pontiff has described the violence that struck down Paris as a prelude to a "Third World War." He also appealed to people to rise above their humanity by not allowing challenges such as the recent Paris attacks to harden their attitudes and hearts.

The Pope will also touch on subjects close to his heart, the issues of poverty as well as care for the environment. Pope Francis is also expected to address the conflicts between Muslims and Christians.

Okello believes that the Pope's visit to the continent will leave a lasting impression on many Africans as he always seems to carry with him a sense of compassion and does not seem to condemn.