Uganda: Bishop Odoki prays for peace and appeals for humanitarian support for refugees
Fr Isaac Ojok - Koboko
Speaking at the Provincial Peace and Prayer Week opening being held in Arua Diocese, the Bishop mentioned that Arua Diocese is host to over one million refugees who arrived when war broke out in South Sudan in 2013.
Diocese hosts to one million refugees
He went on to say that refugees fled to Uganda because of the absence of peace in their country. Since arriving in Uganda, Arua Diocese has provided pastoral and spiritual care to refugees.
Bishop Odoki further mentioned that there are 38 settlements in the Diocese. Several pastoral agents have been assigned to these settlements to accompany the refugees and to provide pastoral care.
He commended the Ugandan host communities for making available land for settlements and for allowing the refugees to engage in agricultural activities.
A radio channel for refugees
Bishop Odoki also spoke of the social services that the Diocese makes available to refugees through Caritas -the Catholic relief, humanitarian, and development agency of the Catholic Church. He thanked local and international partners for extending material support to the Diocesan Caritas, which, in turn, distributes donated items to refugees on behalf of the Diocese and the Church. The prelate, however, said the needs among refugees are more than the humanitarian aid currently available.
The Diocese also provides health services to the refugees, complementing services provided by the Ugandan Government, UN agencies, and other NGOs.
The Diocese has also made a platform through Diocesan Radio Pacis in Moyo available to refugees. The extra Radio Pacis channel is dedicated to refugees, who use it to send messages of peace, reconciliation, and love to their relatives.
A vicariate for refugees
In his address, Bishop Odoki commended the work of fourteen different international and local religious congregations serving refugees in the Diocese.
The fourteen religious congregations serve under the auspices of a Vicariate for Refugees and Migrants within the Diocese of Arua.
We should all choose peace
Archbishop John Baptist Odama, then Ordinary of Gulu Archdiocese and now Archbishop Emeritus, initiated the annual Peace and Prayer Week in 2005. The idea was to unite the people of Northern Uganda and restore peace in the region among people who had been devastated by the war led by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels -LRA.
This year, the Peace and Prayer Week is being held in the Arua Diocese. It has attracted peace pilgrims from Arua, Lira, Nebbi, Kotido, and Gulu dioceses. Other peace pilgrims are drawn from the neighbouring countries of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
To achieve true peace, the Bishop said, the absence of war or gun violence does not guarantee a state of peace. He said peace is the choice to create an environment where people respect one another and live together in kindness and understanding regardless of differences. He continued that peace is not just a journey of one day but a journey that is held continuously.
“Peace is something we can all choose to practice, and let us think of ourselves as agents of peace who intentionally choose to be kind and peaceful in the community.”
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