Church in Africa reflects on 10 years of Laudato Si'

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August 1, 2025

Cardinal Peter Turkson addresses the Laudato Si’ Africa Conference 2025 near Kampala, Uganda. (Photo courtesy Bethany Land Institute)

When several dozen U.S. bishops met last year to discuss how the Catholic Church in the U.S. has responded to Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', their assessment was bleak.

While some dioceses have taken up initiatives in the spirit of Laudato Si', as the bishops at the 2024 private conference concluded, the U.S. church overall has failed to embrace the now-late pontiff's climate goals. Now in 2025, the 10th anniversary year of the landmark encyclical, the U.S. church continues to dawdle in addressing the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, pollution and other issues of environmental justice.

But a look at other regions of the world tells a different story.

For example, a conference at the Bethany Land Institute, a nonprofit ecological education center north of Kampala in Uganda, last week assessed how the church in Africa has responded to the same church teachings. And they reached a different conclusion than the bishops in the U.S.

"Ten years ago, Pope Francis made a bold call to care for our common home," said Fr. Emmanuel Katongole, a Notre Dame professor of theology and peace studies who co-founded the institute, in his opening remarks at the gathering. "Across Africa, communities rose to the call, building hope from the soil and the spirit of science."

"In different parts of Africa, preaching moved to action. Where there was a lack of civic space for climate activism or advocacy, Laudato Si' has been the best tool," said Steven Kezamutima, African programs coordinator for the Laudato Si' Movement. "Climate issues were in the Catholic social teachings, but for the first time, the church opened the door for climate conversation."

"Cyclones, droughts and other extreme weather events across the continent have ravaged communities and ecosystems. The international community is yet to get its house in order about a comprehensive and just plan of action to address the crisis we face," said Allen Ottaro, founder and executive director of the Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa.

Humans must "change the way we do and then become a little bit more brotherly or a little bit more sisterly towards creation as Pope Francis would have us think and do," said Cardinal Peter Turkson, who heads the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences, in his keynote address. "Francis wants us to recognize that we are ecological citizens and, in a sense, ecological citizenship, to learn and to feel with the earth. So hearing the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor requires a sense of ecological citizenship"

What else is new on EarthBeat:

Vatican strikes solar farm deal to become the world's first carbon-neutral state

by Nicole Winfield, Associated Press

Italy agreed to a Vatican plan to turn a 430-hectare (1,000-acre) field north of Rome, once the source of controversy between the two, into a vast solar farm that the Holy See hopes will generate enough electricity to meet its needs and turn Vatican City into the world's first carbon-neutral state.

What's your environmental impact? Catholic groups' platform makes it easy to find out

by Kimberley Heatherington, OSV News

The platform allows both individuals and groups to offset some of their carbon footprint, encouraging lifestyle changes among members.

Sisters support defense of Apache sacred site, 'religious freedom for Native Americans'

by Chris Herlinger

Activists are fighting a copper mine planned for a site sacred to Apache people. "Religious freedom for Christians looks one way right now, and religious freedom for Native Americans another," said a Loretto Community co-member.

Yellowstone has been a ‘sacred wonderland’ of spiritual power and religious activity for centuries — and for different faith groups

by Thomas S. Bremer, The Conversation

Native American groups were aware of the region’s dramatic features. Since the national park’s creation, other faiths have also been inspired by its beauty, from Christians to New Age groups.

What's happening in other climate news:

Trump EPA proposes revoking pollution limits based in part on document authored by 5 climate contrarians —Ella Nilsen and Andrew Freedman for CNN

Trump yanks millions of acres of ocean designated for wind —Ari Natter for Bloomberg News

Why this Pennsylvania city put Its streetlights on a dimmer —Cara Buckley, visuals by Danielle Amy for The New York Times

In the past two years, solar power has begun to transform the world’s energy system. —Bill McKibben for The New Yorker

Pope Leo XIV: A change of course is needed on environment —Tiziana Campisi for Vatican News

As UN plastic treaty talks face possible deadlock, what are the ways forward? —Tosca Ballerini for Mongabay

UN human rights experts and scientists urge Brazil's president to veto a law that would cut environmental reviews —Bob Berwyn for Inside Climate News

Final Beat:

This week's Final Beat comes from an excerpt of NCR environment correspondent Brian Roewe's recent column for the Inside NCR newsletter, delivered weekly to NCR Forward members. (You can receive it in the future by becoming an NCR Forward member.)

Negotiations on the international plastics treaty resume next week in Geneva, Switzerland. I reported in December on the last round of talks, which fell short of delivering an expected deal.

"I am supportive of having one more session, or however many sessions I guess it takes to reach something that will truly address the plastic crisis," said St. Joseph Sr. Patty Johnson, who attended the talks in Busan, South Korea.

The amount of plastic produced today — 400 million tons, the vast majority created from fossil fuels — is set to double by 2040 and triple by 2060. Less than 10% of plastic globally is recycled. Many plastic items cannot be recycled at all.

Catholics engaging in plastic treaty talks told me their concern is how plastic pollution harms ecosystems and the health of humans and other creatures, given the thousands of chemicals used in creating plastics, their rampant littering of land and water, and the ever-growing prevalence of microplastics.

Pope Francis called it "criminal" to dump plastic in the sea, and often lamented a "throwaway culture" that discards items almost as quickly as they're acquired.

A plastic bag is used 10 to 15 minutes before it's discarded, studies estimate, while it can take nearly five years to fully degrade on land, and potentially far longer in the sea. Estimates for single-use plastic bottles to fully break down range from a couple years to thousands.

How the plastic treaty addresses plastic production — with single-use plastics making up nearly 40% of present-day production — will be one major aspect I'll be watching in the proceedings in Geneva. But I'll also be keeping an ear out for how, and if, negotiators respond to what Catholics and other people of faith say is as crucial as terms on a paper: a substantial cultural change in how societies around the globe use and discard plastic items as a regular part of daily life.

Thanks for reading EarthBeat.

Stephanie Clary
Environment Editor
National Catholic Reporter
sclary@ncronline.org