Cardinal Peter Turkson, a top Vatican official and a key architect in drafting and public presentation of Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, Laudato Si will be a key speaker at the Africa Environment Conference 2025 hosted by Uganda in Luweero District.
Cardinal Turkson, the chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences between July 22 and 25, 2025 will be among key speakers at the Laudato Si 2025 Africa conference.
The conference which brings together conservationists, environment scholars, the Church among other stakeholders seeks to examine how far Africa has gone in implementing the landmark ecological document on the care of mother earth, authored by Pope Francis in 2015.
Fr Emmanuel Katongole, a professor of Theology and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana USA and lead organiser of the conference says the participants convening at Bethany Land Institute in Luweero District will reflect on the 10-year journey of implementing Pope Francis’ encyclical letter on care of mother ‘Earth’ ( Laudato Si).
“The encyclical letter has been a big inspiration for action to save the environment. The pollutants, forest cover destruction among many other barriers that make the Earth unsafe are a big concern. The conference will not only honour the inspirational legacy of Pope Francis in the restoration and care of Nature but analyse and review strategies in the nature preservation journey,” he told The Monitor.
Cardinal Turkson as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace was instrumental in guiding the drafting of the Laudato Si document authored by Pope Francis. The encyclical letter by Pope Francis released in 2015 rallied the World to care for mother earth with emphasis on the protection of the degraded environment.
At Bethany Land Institute where the Catholic Church under Kasana Luweero Diocese has established model conservation practices including community outreach programmes targeting nature preservation and food security, a review of key projects both in the greater Luweero and the different parts of Uganda will be part of the discussion, Fr Katongole told The Monitor.
About Laudato Si;
The Laudato Si is an encyclical by Pope Francis authored in 2015 focusing on the care of the home and Earth. The letter has since become an inspiration for conservationists among many other stakeholders that link the current climate change to human carelessness and less care about the environment rallies the World for action to collectively save mother Earth.
The letter emphasizes a unified action to address environmental challenges. It connects spiritual values with the appreciation of the beauty and importance of caring for the environment.
The Lazurus Forest located at Nyimbwa Sub County, Luweero District is part of the conservation activities inspired by Pope Francis’s Ladato Si encyclical. The more than 300-acre forest land had by 2015 been degenerated after years of encroachment between 2004 and 2017.
Inspired by the Laudato Si, three Rev Fathers in partnership with Kasana-Luweero Diocese in 2018 embarked on a journey to secure and rejuvenate the Nandere natural forest. In 2014, the Church announced a milestone recovery of more than 250 acres of natural forest christened ‘Lazurus’ forest. The forest according to the Church is now home to more than 160 species of migratory birds and more than 80 indigenous tree species.
