Pope Francis made a highly symbolic gesture by opening a "Holy Door" at Bangui Cathedral in the Central African Republic ahead of the start of a Catholic Jubilee Year.
Pope Francis hailed Africa as "a continent of hope" as he toured Uganda on the second leg of a landmark trip that has seen him railing against corruption and poverty.
Pope Francis offered a surprise public apology from the Catholic Church for a series of scandals which have shaken the city of Rome and the Vatican, from gay sex to drug use.
Pope Francis deplored the "escalation of violence affecting innocent civilians" in the Middle East, from Syria to Iraq, Jerusalem and the West Bank, and urged the international community to act.
Pope Francis says he has felt "used" by people claiming to be his friend since he became pontiff, in a radio interview touching on the personal side of his papacy.
Nearly half a million Catholics have signed a petition urging Pope Francis to condemn same sex unions as unnatural and rule out allowing divorced believers who remarry to receive communion.
Pope Francis flies into Sarajevo bearing a message of reconciliation 20 years after peace accords which ended Bosnia's war but left the country divided on ethnic lines