During his speech at the State House in Nairobi, the pope called for responsible development in Africa and elsewhere. One of his first actions in Kenya was to plant a tree on the State House grounds.

 

"The grave environmental crisis facing our world demands an ever greater sensitivity to the relationship between human beings and nature," he said. "We have a responsibility to pass on the beauty of nature in its integrity to the future generations."

 

Francis is expected to address climate issues when he visits the regional U.N. headquarters in Nairobi on Thursday.

 

Millions of Christians - Catholics and otherwise - are expected to turn out for public celebrations of Masses during the tour, presenting a challenge for national security forces to keep the pontiff and the vast crowds safe.

 

Kenya has suffered a spate of attacks by Somalia's Islamist group al Shabaab in the past two years that have killed hundreds of people, including the 2013 raid on a Nairobi shopping mall that killed 67. Kenya has also been plagued by ethnic tensions.

 

Pope Francis used his speech to address those tensions. He called for ethnic and religious reconciliation in Africa and during this, his first tour of the continent, he will address a fast-growing Catholic population and seek to heal Christian-Muslim divisions.

 

Thousands of police have been deployed in Nairobi and officers will also be out in force in the Ugandan capital Kampala, which the pope visits next.  — Reuters