Lira hosts peace prayer week with call for post-election unity

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The 20th Peace Prayer Week on Monday kicked off in Lira City with a call for reconciliation, love, humility and unity among the people following the 2026 general elections.

Hosted by Lira Catholic Diocese at Lango College School playground, the week-long prayer programme began with Holy Mass conducted by the host bishop, Sanctus Lino Wanok, after which pilgrims, led by bishops, marched through major streets in Lira city.

The GANAL Peace Prayer Week is an annual event that brings together Catholic faithful from across the northern Uganda dioceses under Gulu Archdiocese, including Lira, Nebbi, Arua and Gulu. This year’s event has also attracted pilgrims from Kotido Catholic Diocese.

Hundreds of Christians from Northern Uganda and Karamoja marching on Lira street to mark the 20th GANAL Peace Prayer Week.

This year’s event is organised under the theme “Peace be with you” and will run up to Friday, May 8, 2026.

Giving the homily during the Eucharistic celebration to open the event, Bishop Wanok welcomed the pilgrims and acknowledged fellow bishops from other dioceses, who are principal organisers of the gathering, noting Lira’s gratitude as host this year.

Reflecting on the theme, the bishop said that peace is a gift placed in the heart of every person, noting that “peace is not something manufactured elsewhere for us to seek, but a special gift already within us”.

“Many people carry wounds similar to those of the apostles; wounds of rejection, division, mistrusts, fear, and struggles for power," he noted, reminding the faithful that the Holy Spirit heals, forgives and transforms hearts.

He emphasised that peace must be practical and lived out daily, adding that every step taken should build bridges in communities and foster reconciliation. 

He encouraged participants to fill their minds with the Word of God, seek what is good and true for all humanity, and move from division to unity and from silence to dialogue.

The Archbishop of Gulu Archdiocese, Raphael p’Mony Wokorach, called on Christians to turn to the Lord with open hearts, reconcile with Him and promote peace in their communities.

Archbishop Wokorach said the recently concluded elections recorded various forms of humiliation, division and confrontation among individuals, politicians and political groups.

He noted that some people branded the politicians they supported or themselves as the Trinity, which he described as wrong and ungodly, indicating a deviation from the ways of God.

He urged Christians to return to God, from whom peace and happiness come, and to promote love and unity both in the community and the Church.

Rev. Fr Douglas Owera, the coordinator of justice and peace in Lira Diocese, said the main focus of the event is to pray for peace at the family, community, regional, national and global levels.

He said the annual GANAL Peace Prayer Week was initiated in 2006 by Gulu Archdiocese Bishop Emeritus John Baptist Odama after decades of insurgency in northern Uganda, and has since helped to heal wounds among communities.

“Today, we are not only celebrating the 20th anniversary of the peace week but also peace week itself, and celebrating the impact of the prayer brought in the lives of the people in the region,” said Fr Owera.

The said the diocese is hosting over 5,000 pilgrims, including Archbishop Emeritus John Baptist Odama, Bishops Sabino Ochan Odoki of Arua, Constantine Rupiny of Nebbi, Dominic Eibu of Kotido, Bishop Emeritus Franzeli, host Bishop Sanctus Lino Wanok and Archbishop Raphael p’Mony Wokorach of Gulu.

The event comes at a time when the country has just concluded a political season, with organisers saying it offers an opportunity to heal wounds caused by political and cultural tensions and rebuild unity in the region, particularly in northern Uganda and Karamoja, which have experienced insurgency and cattle rustling for years.c