(Vatican Radio) Kenyans went to the polls on Tuesday in a general election pitting the current President Uhuru Kenyatta against opposition leader Raila Odinga.Thousands of international observers have been monitoring the vote amid fears of a repeat of the violence that plagued the country following elections a decade ago.Listen to our report: Long queues began forming before dawn at over 40.000 polling stations across the country as Kenyans turned out to cast their votes in the closely contested election.Although there are eight presidential candidates on the ballot paper, the real battle is between incumbent Kenyatta, the 55-year-old son of Kenya's founding president and his longtime rival, 72-year-old Odinga, son of the country’s first vice-president.Kenyatta, who won the previous election in 2013 by a thin margin, is seeking a second and final term in office.Despite allegations of vote-tampering, that last occasion was a largely peaceful affair, unlike the vote ...
(Vatican Radio) Kenyans went to the polls on Tuesday in a general election pitting the current President Uhuru Kenyatta against opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Thousands of international observers have been monitoring the vote amid fears of a repeat of the violence that plagued the country following elections a decade ago.
Listen to our report:
Long queues began forming before dawn at over 40.000 polling stations across the country as Kenyans turned out to cast their votes in the closely contested election.
Although there are eight presidential candidates on the ballot paper, the real battle is between incumbent Kenyatta, the 55-year-old son of Kenya's founding president and his longtime rival, 72-year-old Odinga, son of the country’s first vice-president.
Kenyatta, who won the previous election in 2013 by a thin margin, is seeking a second and final term in office.
Despite allegations of vote-tampering, that last occasion was a largely peaceful affair, unlike the vote a decade ago which descended into ethnic violence across the country, killing over a thousand people.
Bishops call for calm
Ahead of this vote, Kenya’s Catholic bishops issued an appeal for peace, noting the relatively calm manner in which the political campaigns have been conducted.
They urged the security forces, the judiciary, the media and all those involved with the voting process to act with responsibility in order to guarantee “just, fair peaceful and credible elections”. The bishops also proposed a prayer novena for the nine days leading up to the vote.
Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is among thousands of international observers who have been monitoring the election process. Final results are not expected before Wednesday at the earliest.
Pope Francis waves while traveling by boat in Venice, Italy, for a meeting with young people at the Basilica della Madonna della Salute on April 28, 2024. Earlier in the day he met with inmates at a women's prison. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis opened his one-day visit to Venice on Sunday morning with a meeting with female inmates where he reaffirmed the importance of fraternity and human dignity, noting that prison can be a place of new beginnings. "A stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute," the pope said to the female inmates gathered in the intimate courtyard of the Women's Prison on the Island of Giudecca. Pope Francis left the Vatican by helicopter at approximately 6:30 in the mo...
Pope Francis prays in front of the tomb of St. Mark the Evangelist inside St. Mark's Basilica in Venice on April 28, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 09:35 am (CNA).Pope Francis had a full slate of events Sunday during his day trip to Venice, a trip that tied together a message of unity and fraternity with the artistic patrimony of a city that has been a privileged place of encounter across the centuries. "Faith in Jesus, the bond with him, does not imprison our freedom. On the contrary, it opens us to receive the sap of God's love, which multiplies our joy, takes care of us like a skilled vintner, and brings forth shoots even when the soil of our life becomes arid," the pope said to over 10,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Mark's Square. Framing his homily during the Mass on the theme of unity, one of the central points articulated throughout several audiences spread across the morning, Pope Francis reminded Christians: "Remaining ...
Prayer house at San Simeone, Italy, September 2012. / Credit: Courtesy of Ricostruttori nella preghieraRome, Italy, Apr 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Across Italy there are houses of prayer run by the Ricostruttori (Reconstructors) community, a Catholic movement dedicated to people who are far from the Church but attracted to spirituality, particularly Eastern meditation and Buddhist practices. The Reconstructors was founded in 1978 by Jesuit Father Gian Vittorio Cappelletto. "During the postconciliar period, the Church was faced with the need for new forms of evangelization and apostolate, to reach out to people who were drifting away," Don Roberto Rondanina, priest and superior of the Ricostruttori, explained to CNA. "It was a time when Eastern meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism, the New Age ... were beginning to spread in Europe." "Father Cappelletto, who lived in Turin, sought to understand the meaning of this 'flight to the East' and felt the need to find new forms of sp...