This event focused on praying for healing on issues such as the post-war LRA trauma and conflict that left scars in the hearts and minds of the peace-loving people of Gulu, Promoting interfaith and youth integration of care for creation activities to build a climate change resilient community uniting young people, with elders, the family (children, men, and women) to form social spiritual bonds that tell stories of gratitude and faith to grow together as a people of God who love and care for each other celebrating their beautiful cultural heritage and beauty of creation in their motherland and church community under the umbrella of the Laudato Si club by the Laudato youth Initiative.

The event commenced with the Holy Sacrifice of Mass at 11:30 am, led by Fr. Berry Apire, C.S.C. He comforted the people with Jesus’ example as one who always stood for truth and fought against injustices to the extent of giving up life. The people of Koch Goma should in some way see themselves as messengers of Christ who have fought against injustices of both human nature in the war and now ecological crisis. Fronting God in their battle is a sign of hope commitment and love for one another, God and Creation. It is time to walk past the past sad experience and open doors for the Joy that Mother Church gives us in this season of creation as we look towards the year of Mercy that the church is promulgating inviting us to be ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. We need to be sources of hope to one another sharing in common what we possess as a community ‘in those traditional granaries’ no one should go hungry when you have food in the granary. However we need to work hard to restore Mother Earth to her productive nature to feed our children, the Laudato Youth initiative has given us the challenge of planting Fruit and Indigenous trees, but also encouraged us to adopt organic smart farming methods.

Approximately 60 people attended, including children, some from various religious denominations due to the open invitation to attend an ecological creation care open-air Mass in a natural environment.

As they reflected on Sr. Alessandra Smerilli’s message while announcing the theme of the day of care for creation in July, she said “Ecological conversion, like any experience of conversion, is a spiritual event with visible, concrete repercussions.” Fr. Berry Challenged the Christians attending the day of prayer for Creation to listen attentively to the message of the Holy Spirit and allow the experience of metanoia (transformative Change of Heart) towards Integral Ecology.

The venue of Mass was Mr. Alex, the club president’s home fruit open-air grounds, where the nursery for the club’s tree seedlings is also located. Worth noting is Mr. Alex is an inspirational leader and a good example of how Parishes can adopt and implement Laudato Si. It is a testament that “Incorporating the theme of caring for Creation into youth ministry is essential for shaping the faith of future generations.”- Fr. Alberto Ravagnati. This place is important because it also serves as a training ground for creative, healthy farming practices to promote soil health and farmer resilience in Koch Goma Parish with a demonstration compost manure pits where youths are being rained on composting a climate-smart and regenerative agricultural practice that significantly enhances soil health and overall sustainability. In addition, the Laudato Youth have been learning a number of the importance of planting fruit and indigenous trees in the strife to restore forest cover and sustainable food security. A good number of them are now zealous to change their lifestyle with the learned skills to better enhance food security and sustainable practices in their families and communities. This season of creation will be an opportunity for them to be the change they want to see in their parish community and society.

In Father Berry’s homily, he elaborated on the 2024 theme, “To Hope and Act with Creation,” emphasizing the importance of being co-creators with God, as reflected in the readings from Genesis 1:1-25 and John 1:1-14. He encouraged attendees to be agents of change and advocate for environmental conservation, highlighting the journey and history of the Laudato Youth Initiative, and inspiring the youth present to take action.
Before the final blessing, attendees shared testimonies on their conservation efforts and the root causes of ecological damage in the area.

An elder recounted the significant loss of forest cover due to past LRA war conflict in the region Between 1994 and 2006 the LRA insurgency registered abduction of people even in the parish. When thinking of young people who faced the injustice of war in Gulu think of praying for parents who lost their beloved ones and children to citing painful incidents like the Aboke girls among the many injustices the war caused in the area and the parish mass like such is an opportunity to pray for the grace of forgiveness and healing us to pray for.

Another church leader shared experiences of forest preservation mentioning his experience before the LRA insurgency and mentioning how Koch Goma was heavily forested. People would walk over 50km up to Karuma under tree shades and bananas along the way without the scorching sun. Wild Yams and wild fruits we all over the place. Animals from the park co-existed with people. During the war, all this was lost due to the clearing of forests to hunt for rebels who would hide in the forest. After the war, people returned from internally displaced peoples camps (IDPS) and found wild animals in their homes due to the forests. Then massive clearing of the remaining forest covers started and today as we speak Koch Goma has only 20% of its forest. 80% lost. The experience of such elders helped the youths to know how things were in the past and how it is today.

The church leader who spoke has over 300 acres of forests. He planted natural trees. He mentioned that it’s not for money. Our activities will include a visit to his forest. Another lady also gave her testimonies on the many trees she’s planted at home.

One Laudato Youth member also gave a testimony on how he benefited from the training on conservation. Currently, he is making a reception garden with tree shade for commercial purposes along the main road.
One youth member shared how conservation training had influenced their commercial tree garden project. A ray of hope for the young people in the club and joy as they look towards taking this impactful ecological journey.

Following the Mass, members and attendees planted 10 Muvule trees on the church grounds. Each group, including Fr. Berry, the Laudato Youth Club, Mothers, Parish Council members, other faith members present, and Individuals, pledged to protect the trees for future generations.

It’s worth noting that Fr. Berry distributed flower cuttings to all the participants. White Indigenous Rose flowers Hibiscus over six types of stem cuttings of flowers distributed to inspire people to beautify their compounds and attest to the beauty of God’s creation. All these flowers were obtained from his flower garden since it acts as a model garden for flowers to inspire people in the spirit of leading by example. He emphasized that we can’t lead people well and inspire them in something we haven’t done.

He encouraged the Laudato leaders to lead by example and Laudato Members and other faith leaders present to work together with the church and unite people in climate action but also socially and in peacebuilding. Let this club and its members build bridges of love, social interaction, climate action, and peace among individuals, families, and the community at large. Our Laudato Youth Initiative invited us to be aware and reduce our carbon footprint beginning this season of creation may this be the light that leads us to hope and act for creation he added.

The event concluded with a meal, and future activities planned by the club include radio talk shows, church awareness campaigns, and visits to National Forestry Offices, among others.

Fr. Berry Apire, CSC
Laudato Youth Initiative Patron