Pope Francis brought a message of peace to war-torn Central African Republic today, visiting a sprawling refugee camp and calling for unity in a country plagued by sectarian violence.
"I come to the Central African Republic as a pilgrim of peace and as an apostle of hope," the 78-year-old pontiff said on landing in one of Africa's poorest and most unstable countries, on a 24-hour visit fraught with concerns for his safety.
Cheers and singing erupted as his plane touched down at Bangui's international airport from Uganda on the final leg of his three-country tour of Africa, which he hailed as "the continent of hope." He began his visit Wednesday in Kenya.
For the short ride to the presidential palace in Bangui, the pontiff travelled in his open-topped popemobile, with huge crowds, many of them children and young people, cheering wildly as he passed, some waving branches in a sign of peace.
At the palace he met with acting president Catherine Samba-Panza, who begged his forgiveness for the wave of "evil" sectarian violence that has devastated the country.
"Central Africans have inflicted unspeakable suffering on other Central Africans," she said.
"On behalf of the ruling class of this country but also in the name of everyone who has played any part in this descent into hell, I confess all the evil that has been done here throughout the course of history and ask for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart."
In his own address, Francis called for unity, urging the people to avoid "the temptation of fear of others, of the unfamiliar, of what is not part of our ethnic group, our political views or our religious denomination."
He also said he hoped the upcoming elections would allow the country to peacefully begin a "new chapter".
"It is my fervent wish that the various national consultations to be held in coming weeks will enable the country to embark serenely on a new chapter of its history," he said ahead of a first round of presidential and legislative elections which on December 27.
The country descended into bloodshed more than two years ago after longtime Christian leader Francois Bozize was ousted by rebels from the mainly Muslim Seleka force, triggering the worst crisis since independence in 1960.
Since then, the former French colony has been gripped by violence between ex-Seleka members and Christian "anti-balaka" militias.
