Pope promises to tour Tanzania

President Jakaya Kikwete & First Lady Mama Salma Kikwete pose for a photo with Pope Benedict XVI at his private library in Vatican City yesterday.The President, who is in Italy,had paid a courtesy call on the Pope.

Pope Benedict XVI has promised to visit Tanzania. President Jakaya Kikwete, who met the Pope yesterday at the Holy See, extended an invitation to the Pope.

Pope Benedict XVI, elected to the post in April 2005, has never visited Africa.

Responding to the President`s invitation, the Holy Father said there was a need to visit Africa, and promised that he would make a stop in Tanzania.

He said the Catholic Church had good relations with Tanzania and that he was considering to visit the country to further cement that relationship.

The Pope commended Tanzania for upholding tolerance and religious harmony.

`Tanzania is among the peaceful countries in the world that do not deny sleep to the Vatican,` the Pontiff said.

He commended the country�s leadership for upholding the good foundation of religious tolerance laid down by the Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

The Pope said he would continue praying for Tanzania so that it remained a peaceful country.

The Holy Father said the Catholic Church would still support education and other social services in Tanzania, adding that education could help in the fight against HIV-Aids.

The Catholic Church is running a number of schools and tertiary institutions in the country.

For his part, President Kikwete hailed the Pope and the Catholic Church for provision of social services in Tanzania.

The President also commended the Church for its contribution to the search for peace in the Great Lakes region.

The Roman Catholic Church, through Community of Saint Egidio, has been involved in the search for global peace, including the Great Lakes Region.

The community, which was founded in Rome in 1968, is a movement of lay people dedicated to evangelization and charity. It operates in more than 70 countries.

Saint Egidio Community will on Sunday hold an interfaith conference in Napels, which President Kikwete will attend.

President Kikwete presented a traditional chess board to the Pope as a gift. In appreciation, the Pope gave the president a gold medal of his papacy as a gift.

During his papacy, Benedict XVI sees the denial of moral truth as one of the central problems of the 21st century.

He teaches about the need for both the Catholic Church and humanity to contemplate God`s love.

Pope Benedict has reaffirmed the importance of prayer in the face of activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work.

It is estimated that more than 25,000 people visit the Vatican City everyday, leaving behind about 300,000 US dollars per day in revenue collection.