{"id":23709,"date":"2025-12-13T13:56:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T13:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/?p=23709"},"modified":"2025-12-13T14:00:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T14:00:57","slug":"uganda-thousands-join-cross-border-pilgrimage-to-lodonga-minor-basilica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/13\/uganda-thousands-join-cross-border-pilgrimage-to-lodonga-minor-basilica\/","title":{"rendered":"UGANDA: Thousands Join Cross-Border Pilgrimage to Lodonga Minor Basilica"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fr Isaac Ojok<\/em><\/p>\n

On 8th December 2025, the Bishop of Arua Diocese, Rt. Rev. Sabino Ochan Odoki led a holy pilgrimage to Lodonga Minor Basilica in Yumbe District, concluding with a solemn Holy Mass. The event, held on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, drew thousands of Christians from across the Arua Diocese, along with priests, religious men and women, and pilgrims from Kenya, particularly members of the Order of Carmelites (OC).<\/p>\n

The pilgrimage also welcomed civil and cultural leaders, as well as people of goodwill.<\/p>\n

Speaking to AMECEA News Online<\/em>, Bishop Odoki expressed gratitude for the presence of refugees from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who live in settlement camps within the Arua Diocese and joined the celebration. He further thanked the pilgrims from some dioceses in Kenya, describing the gathering as a moment of joy, unity, and love for the Basilica and the entire diocese.<\/p>\n

Standing under the patronage of Mary, the Lodonga Minor Basilica has become a beacon of faith in the West Nile region of Northwestern Uganda.<\/p>\n

In his homily, Bishop Odoki reminded pilgrims that the grace bestowed upon Mary is a profound sign of God\u2019s love for humanity. Reflecting on the day\u2019s readings, he contrasted Mary\u2019s perfect obedience with the disobedience of Adam and Eve in Genesis, emphasizing that,<\/p>\n

\u201cDisobedience brings suffering, but obedience brings blessings. He added, Obedience is the test of our faith and our love for God.\u201d<\/p>\n

He urged Christians to embrace obedience rooted in faith and reason. The bishop highlighted that God\u2019s abundant blessings are revealed in Christ, whose incarnation, celebrated at Christmas, remains the visible sign of divine love.<\/p>\n

Bishop Odoki encouraged families to emulate the holiness of Sts. Joachim and Anne, whose deep faith and obedience nurtured Mary\u2019s upbringing. He called on Christians to make their homes places of love, harmony, and prayer, to reject domestic violence, and to embrace God\u2019s will in their daily lives.<\/p>\n

End<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fr Isaac Ojok On 8th December 2025, the Bishop of Arua Diocese, Rt. Rev. Sabino…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23710,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amecea-news","category-uganda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23709"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23711,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23709\/revisions\/23711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}