Pope Francis to Senegal youth: Pray for peace

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday asked the young people of West Africa to pray for peace in the world, “particularly in the region of Casamance.” The message of the Holy Father to the2014 Inter-Territorial World Youth Days in Kaolack, Senegal, was read out by the Apostolic Nuncio to Senegal, Archbishop Loius Mariano Montemayor. The event was attended by around 25,000 young people from Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Togo, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Benin, and Ghana. A delegation from Spain also attended. Archbishop Montemayor told the young people to engage in the process of the search for peace in Senegal and to pray for the reconciliation of hearts.
The Inter-Territorial World Youth Days were established in 1996 to promote peace, justice, reconciliation and development. They are events filled with prayers , testimonies and reflections with the aim of helping young people to strengthen their faith. They are scheduled in the years after the International World Youth Day attended by the Pope. The next one will be held in Dakar in 2019. The Archbishop of Dakar, Cardinal Theodore Adrien Sarr told the young people that the Conference of Bishops of West Africa has urged those gathered in Kaolack to be missionaries , to speak the truth , to proclaim salvation , to be " bearer of joy, and to listen to each other ... , to be faithful witnesses of acceptance and meditation on the Word of God."