By Laudato Voices. As the Vatican organises a Jubilee of Digital Missionaries”: A New Frontier of Faith, Laudato Youth Initiative sees itself as one of the people who are evangelizing via the digital space to give hope and share faith embedded in the integration of integral ecology
According to Vatican News, from July 28–29, 2025, Rome will host the groundbreaking Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers, a landmark event that recognizes the digital realm as a new “continent of mission.” Backed by the Dicastery for Communication, the event coincides with the early days of the Youth Jubilee, one one the events we plan to celebrate on 19 July with a Laudato Si Festival bringing together over 1500 youth physically and over 10,000 expected to follow virtually in the mission territory of the digital continent on social media channels. In contrast, the event in Rome will bring together nearly 1,000 social‑media evangelizers from Latin America, Europe, Africa, and beyond for our youth in Uganda; it will be a continued reflection of evangelization through song and our reflections on Christus Vivit. This special Jubilee offers three core dimensions:
- Spiritual – pilgrims will pass through the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica, marking openness and conversion.
- Formative – workshops in the Auditorium Conciliazione aim to equip influencers with pastoral and digital tools for online evangelization.
- Celebratory – Piazza Risorgimento becomes a hub of art, music, and storytelling, bearing witness to Gospel joy in digital culture.
Pope Francis calls these digital missionaries to embody hope, presence, and listening, and Pope Leo urges us to build bridges rather than walls, resonating with the spirit of the Synodal Church. In the same spirit, we shall celebrate a Laudato Si Green Festival to celebrate a jubilee for the youth.
Laudato Si’ Green Festival: Youth as Pilgrims of Green Hope
In Jinja, Uganda, on July 18–19, 2025, the Laudato Si’ Green Festival will be celebrated with a care for creation Mass to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical on ecology and human dignity. Organized by the Laudato Youth Initiative, the festival theme is “Sowing Seeds of Hope and Peace for Creation” (Laudato Youth Initiative, 2025a).
The program includes:
- An Open-Air Green Mass, celebrating God’s creation and calling for ecological justice (Laudato Youth Initiative, 2025a).
- A Creation March and community cleanup, encouraging grassroots environmental action (Laudato Youth Initiative, 2025a).
- Eco-exhibitions and demonstrations featuring solar irrigation pumps, smart water systems, and other youth-led green innovations (Laudato Youth Initiative, 2025a).
- Youth dialogues on integral ecology and faith-based leadership in climate action and Agriculture for Sustainability to eradicate poverty (Laudato Youth Initiative, 2025a).
These efforts are part of the Jubilee Year campaign “Pilgrims of Green Hope”, launched in December 2024 to inspire young Catholics across Uganda and beyond (Laudato Youth Initiative, 2024).
Converging Messages: Digital and Green
Despite geographical and thematic differences, both initiatives share a unified vision:
- Mission in new frontiers – one in digital space, the other in ecological conversion.
- Integral ecology and synodality – rooted in listening and walking together with those on the peripheries to care for our common home.
- Youth-led renewal – empowering young people to evangelize even in the digital space, be caretakers of the earth, and steward Creation alike.
Together, Laudato Youth embody Pope Francis’ vision of a Church that is “creative, courageous, and close.”
A Hymn for Our Time: A message for our Hope
Just like the Jubilee hymn “Todos” is more than a song—our song “My environment My responsibility is a call to action message, in both digital platforms and in the care of our Common Home. It was sung in both English and other local languages to easily communicate the message to everyone.
The Fruits of Jubilee
- We are building Stronger digital networks: A connected community of missionaries equipped for online ministry. We also haveChristians who come to reflect on our information and carry away our inspiration.
- Grassroots green action: Youth empowered to enact environmental change grounded in Catholic teaching. We are championing integral ecology in action.
- A Church renewed: Active in both digital and ecological “mission fields,” inspired by the Gospel. Much as we are active in the media, we are active in action too, forming Laudato Si Clubs that are uniting young people for climate action.
This is for us the Jubilee of Mission & Care
In the 2025 Jubilee, two vibrant expressions of faith converge: the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and the Laudato Youth initiative, forming Laudato Youth, a group of young people dedicated to promoting the ecological legacy of Pope Francis with special action programs like the Laudato Si’ Green Festival. Together, they showcase a Catholic Church deeply engaged in today’s cultural and ecological realities—bearing witness, sowing hope, and inspiring a new generation of missionary disciples as did the Uganda Martyrs and St. Adolf, who is our patron and patron of farmers and hardsmen. We call in St. Francis of Africa.
Bibliography
Laudato Youth Initiative. (2024, December 16). Laudato Youth Initiative announces Jubilee Year 2025 theme: Pilgrims of Green Hope. https://laudato-youthinitiative.org/2024/12/16/laudato-youth-initiative-announces-jubilee-year-2025-theme-pilgrims-of-green-hope/
Laudato Youth Initiative. (2025a, June 29). Press Release: Laudato Si’ Green Festival 2025. https://laudato-youthinitiative.org/2025/06/29/press-release-2/
Vatican News. (2025, July 12). Jubilee for Catholic influencers: “There is room for everyone”. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2025-07/vatican-jubilee-catholic-influencers-hymn.html
