Pope Francis on Friday confirmed his visit to Uganda, the third such visit to the East African country. The visit also means that President Museveni is probably the only President in the world to host two reigning Popes, John Paul II in 1993 and Pope Francis I in November, 2015. Earlier, in 1969 Uganda under Obote became the first to host a Pope, Paul VI.
Pope Francis will also visit the Central African Republic and plans to include Kenya on his first trip to Africa since becoming Pope.
Speaking to a gathering of priests from around the world, the pontiff said he wanted to add Kenya to his African visit but “it is still uncertain because there are organizational problems”.
The pope did not elaborate on the difficulties of visiting Kenya, but it has been a target for attacks by Islamist militants, Somalia-based Al Shabaab.
Francis, who became Pope in 2013, has already announced trips to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay from July 6-13 this year and to Cuba and the United States in September.