ROME-Pope Francis has praised Uganda for its generosity to host refugees.
The pope said while meeting Uganda’s Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.
Uganda hosts some 1.5 million refugees and asylum seekers, according to the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR. Many of them hail from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burundi.
Nabbanja and Pope’s meeting lasted around 25 minutes and saw the Pope and the Prime Minister discuss various issues.
Among the topics covered during the conversation, the Pope was touched by the welcome generously extended by Ugandan institutions to migrants and refugees, not only from the African region, but as far as Central Asian countries.
Pope Francis and Nabbanja also engaged in the customary exchange of gifts.
The Pope gave Uganda’s none executive Prime Minister a bronze statue representing a dove carrying an olive branch in its beak. The statue bears the inscription: “Be messengers of peace”.
He also offered Ms. Nabbanja copies of several papal documents, including the Pope’s message for this year’s World Day of Peace, the Document on Human Fraternity, and a book on the Statio Orbis on 27 March 2020, published by the Vatican’s Publishing House.