The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) has urged Kenyans to make peace a responsibility for both the individual and the nation as a whole, emphasizing the importance of rejecting division, selfishness, and violence, and instead embracing humility, dialogue, accountability and solidarity.

This call was made during the KCCB’s 2026 National Day of Prayer, held on Saturday, October 3, at the National Marian Shrine in Subukia, Nakuru County, where thousands of pilgrims from across the country gathered to pray for peace, unity, and national solidarity.

The service was held under the theme, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9), as the faithful entrusted Kenya to God through the intercession of Mary, Queen of Peace.

This annual pilgrimage took place at a crucial time as Kenya prepares for the 2027 General Election. The bishops urged Kenyans to use this period to build peace, strengthen national solidarity, and avoid words and actions that could incite hatred, division, and violence. Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archbishop of Kisumu, Bishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba, urged Kenyans to be peacemakers by strengthening unity and working together for the common good.

Archbishop Muhatia emphasized that true peace cannot be built by a single individual; rather, it requires the cooperation of every citizen, family, community, and national institution.

For his part, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Bungoma, Bishop Mark Kadima, urged Christians in his homily to understand peace not merely as the absence of war or conflict, but as a way of life built upon humility, responsibility, love, and generosity.

Reflecting on the daily lives of the faithful, Bishop Kadima stated that prayer should not remain confined to the church but should transform the Christian into an instrument of peace within the family, at the workplace, in the community, and in the nation at large.

The bishops further called upon Kenyans to embrace peace—especially as the country approaches the 2027 elections—to prioritize the national interest, respect their political, ethnic, and social differences, and seek solutions to their challenges through dialogue and peaceful means.