Pope Francis prepares for first visit to Africa

It will be a warm and sound welcome for Pope Francis in Kenya as he prepares for his first visit to Africa.

Millions of people across Central and East Africa are already talking about the "historic visit" to the continent, and hundreds of thousands more are expected to turn out to catch a glimpse of the pontiff when he arrives in Kenya, the first stop in his three-country tour.

Francis is scheduled to travel to Kenya, Uganda, and the Central African Republic (CAR) - a travel itinerary that has raised eyebrows but also endeared him to the region.

Religious tolerance

Father Anthony Gichure, a theologian and Catholic Church expert based in Nairobi, told Al Jazeera the timing of Francis' trip was important considering the high level of corruption and repeated violent attacks in the country.

"By coming [here] he can suggest to us ways and approaches to tackle these problems in a human way," Father Gichure said.

"I think he will talk about relations between Muslims and Christians - that terrorists can be from any religion. ... I think he will encourage us to avoid consumerism and materialism that encourages corruption."

The Pope will be particularly welcome to Kenya because he has displayed, during his papacy, a capacity to look beyond Europe and embrace the concerns of people around the world.

The Vatican says it is going ahead with plans for Pope Francis to visit the war-torn Central African Republic [Photo: EPA]

Gay activists in Uganda have said they hope Francis will address the discrimination of the gay and lesbian communities on a continent where being gay is still a crime in most countries.

"I would like the Pope to at least make people know that being LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] is not a curse," Jackson Mukasa, 20, a Ugandan in Kampala, told Reuters news agency on Monday.

Mukasa was imprisoned in 2014, on suspicion of committing homosexual acts, before charges were dropped for lack of evidence.

Last week a spokesperson at the Vatican refused to say whether Francis will enter the debate, adding that he is unlikely to go against the wishes of his local bishops.

According to a report this year by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, a research centre affiliated with Georgetown University in the US, the proportion of African Catholics in the world population of Catholics increased from seven percent to 16 percent between 1980 and 2012.