{UAH} Papal crowds in Rome continue to impress

Following a light summer recess which saw the postponement of the Pope's Wednesday

weekly general audiences to beginning of August the usual crowds continued to pour in

St Peter's Square in the Vatican for the Sunday midday Angelus prayer which remained intact

on the summer programme. And in spite of the severe Roman heat, which sometimes went

beyond 40°C, still multitudes were regularly present at noon on Sunday to salute and pray with

the beloved charismatic Pope Francis. Sometimes the vast Square could see half of its entire space

crammed with pilgrims from all parts of the globe. Summer Sundays indeed continued to show how

Pope Francis was absolutely the very number one world leader almost venerated by the entire globe.

Recently the Wednesday general audiences began, but, due to excesses of heat the Pope advised they

take place in the Pope Paul VI auditorium which can only accommodate maximum 12,000 persons.

Tickets for the auditorium would wlmost run out of stock within minutes as many groups were struggling

to have them. Cheering and ululating pilgrims from Zimbabwe were among the big attraction two weeks ago.

The Wednesday audiences have up to now been an occasion for the Pope to speak about family in responsibility,

prayer, love and respect, Christian upbringing, etc..And  Wednesday last week when temperatures were moderately

cool was now the occasion for the Pope to start his weekly audiences in St Peter's Square. People started flocking

there since very early in the morning and by the time the Pope appeared ( around 9.30 am ) half the entire Square was

beaming with crowds of people from all corners of the world. It took the popemobile almost half an hour to circulate among

the faithful who madly cheered him. And yesterday, Sunday August 30th, 2015 at the Angelus prayer the Square was peopled

by multitudes of pilgrims who covered almost two-thirds of its entire total area. Crowds began arriving four hours before the noon

prayer and among them one could see Palestinian flags flying everywhere among the torrents of people present.. Referring to the

holy texts of the day, the Pope took the opportunity to remind the crowds of the necessity of  transforming oneself for the better by way

of cleaning one's heart which can stand as the source of good or evil. He further reminded that every bad thing going on within one's

midst is the result of one's interior sentiments. He also seized the opportunity to express regret at the recent drowning of boat people

in the Mediterranean.

Pope Francis is certainly well tuned to lead the Church to real greatness. His recent encyclical on the environment has won him praises from all

over the world. His new cardinals are very popularly seen in their regions. His look at the doctrine is overwhelmingly supported by all faithful

in the world, many reports point to the regular return to the Church by those who had abandoned Cathoilicism. And as a world leader he stands

above any head of state or influential world tatesman in popular ratings. and he is the person every corner of the world would eagerly love to

meet and see. Record crowds have almost gone to the point of mobbing him wherever he has been. and millions are awaiting to cheer him

this coming September in Cuba and the USA, two countries he helped to reconcile and which he will be visiting from September 21 to 28.

He is going to quake the two nations where he is rated far more popular than the leaders. And in October 2015, during the Synod on Families

in Rome he is expected to canonize to sainthood French Blessed Louis Martin and his wife Zélie Martin, the parents of St Theresa of Infant Jesus.

Of course vast crowds will flock Rome for the occasion and France will be at honour in St Peter's Square on that day.

Around the same period, the Pope is expected to give a ruling on the long time ongoing apparitions of the Holy Virgin in Medjugorie, a locality in

Bosnia and Herzegovina ( ex-Yugoslavia ). They have been going on for years and they have attracted millions of pilgrims.

Then, of course, fantastic and probably unprecedented huge scenes of welcome will capture world attention when pope Francis will visit Uganda

next November 2015. World TVs and great medias including France's KTO-TV, expert in reporting Papal trips abroad, are all putting on their boots

to help the world witness that welcome which Africa will give to her very much beloved pope Francis. Definitely, as it was the case in 1969 with

Blessed Pope Paul VI and in 1993 with St John Paul II, Uganda will establish records with Pope Francis's visit. Everyone who knows Uganda has

a very optimistic view of the great event. The great Pontiff will draw crowds from every corner of the country and the neighbouring nations and Africa and the world on a whole. people are very eager to see and witness this African welcome, and in a place like Uganda where all religions have known how

to pull together and be one for such wonderful occasions. And where Catholicism is doing very well, pumping in every year 400,000 new baptisms and

where the number of seminarists stands at a fabulous 1130 ! The UN puts Catholic figures in the nation at 47.9 % of the total global national population.

The Church in Uganda is reported dynamic and very fast growing and is said to be a key factor in helping in a near future to contribute for peace in the region. The Church in Uganda, just like the unending thick crowds in Rome, is definitely impressing everyone, the Pope included!

Dr G.H. Kkolokolo ( Paris / France )