Archbishop John Baptist Odama
Roman-Catholic Archbishop of Gulu
His Grace Mgr John Baptist Odama, the Roman-Catholic Archbishop of Gulu, has 420,000 Catholics in his pastoral care. He can count on the collaboration of about forty diocesan priests and fifteen missionary priests belonging to the Comboni Missionaries (Verona Fathers).

In 1945 the Verona Sisters started a Diocesan Congregation called Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate of Gulu, which numbers 307 sisters to date. The Little Sisters are present in 8 Archdioceses in Uganda, Kenya, and Italy (Milan Archdiocese)

Visit the Archdiocese of Gulu Website....HERE

Vatican Information Service
1 FEBRUARY 1999
Erected the ecclesiastical province of Gulu, elevating the diocese of the same name to the rank of metropolitan church, and assigning to it as suffragans the dioceses of Arua, Lira and Nebbi. He appointed Bishop John Baptist Odama of Nebbi, as first metropolitan archbishop of Gulu....HERE


Read the minutes of his talks on the 17th July 2002 with the LRA in an effoort to bring about peace in his Archdiocese....HERE

Mgr John Baptist Odama has worked tirelessly to bring about peace in Northern Uganda. Here are is a chronology of his work as reported through various websites:

Archbishop of Gulu: “No more war, our people want peace”
9 October 2002

“Dialogue is the only possible path to give hope back to our people”. This was the comment made by 55-year-old Monsignor John Baptist Odama, Archbishop of Gulu (North Uganda).

The prelate was interviewed by MISNA in Rome, where he will participate October 20 in the ceremony for the beatification of Daudi Okelo and Jildo Irwa, better known as ‘martyrs of Paimol’. “Words, if used for peace negotiations, do not wound or kill…while bullets always cause disasters”, commented Monsignor Odama, inviting both the rebels of the LRA (lord’s Resistance Army) and government of Kampala to end an armed conflict that in fifteen-some years brought only death and destruction.

“What I find most shocking – he stated – is that the highest price in human lives is paid daily by the civilians imploring incessantly for the cessation of the hostilities”. The Archbishop of Gulu has no doubts: “to continue fighting means digging the graves of more innocent people, reduced to their knees”.

According to Archbishop Odama, the beatification of martyrs represents a “blessing for the Acholi people and entire Ugandan population. It is as if the tomb of these youths, killed in 1918, flew open and the mystery of resurrection swept over the zones afflicted by the rebellion flooding them with peace”. “The duty of every worshipper – Catholic, Anglican or Muslim – is that of accompanying the process of reconciliation, facilitating the meeting between the sides in conflict”, stated the Archbishop, underlining the role of the ARLPI (Acholi Religious Leaders’ Peace Initiative), the cartel of religious communities present in the Acholi districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader.

“It is an initiative aimed at carrying out the indications offered by the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, during the January inter-religious meeting of Assisi”. In face of the numerous wars afflicting Africa, “the religions must unite – stated the Archbishop with emotion – in the only possible crusade, non-violent and aimed at universal brotherhood”.

In these days the prelate has been subject to criticism of the authors of the armed conflict, even receiving death threats; but to the question if he was afraid of dying he responded serenely. “Episcopacy is above all a service for the poor, the defenceless, those that have lost their will to live…For this reason I confide every day in the martyrs of Paimol to give me the strength to announce and coherently testify the Gospel of Peace”.
From MISNA.org

Acholi Clergy Rap UPDF Operation  1 June 2002

Uganda and Sudan join hands to fight LRA  May 2002

Peace negotiations begin in Uganda conflict zone  11 January 2002

Peace is better at home: Excerpts from a letter
by the religious leaders of Acholi, Uganda, written on World Day of Peace
, 31 Dec 2001

Religious Leaders Ask Ugandan
Government to Dismantle Displaced Camps
 22nd September, 2001

Two-day Acholi-Jie Peace Talks End in Kalongo  20th September 2001

Archbishop Challenges IMF Praise-singers To Visit Uganda  21 March 2001

Church is a source of hope in war-torn northern Uganda  22 Feb 2001
The civil war, which has been raging in northern Uganda between the government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) over the past 15 years, has resulted in extreme poverty and a destroyed infrastructure, Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Gulu told journalists during a visit to Bonn, Germany.

Religious leaders seek international help to bring peace to Uganda  21 October 1999

Appeal of the Catholic Bishops of
Eastern Africa for Peace in the Sudan
 6th August, 1999

Mgr John Baptist Odama is a member of:
Members of SECAM Standing Committee



© 2002 GuluFuture.org

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