Rev. Fr. Dr. Ronald Kawooya, C.S.C. | Laudato Si’ Club Rejuvenating the Role of Small Christian Communities | Tuesday, April 14 , 2026
At St. Adolf Holy Cross Parish, Kanyabachope, one encounters a living and vibrant Church where the youth benefit from the wisdom of elders through the gentle yet transformative work of the Laudato Si’ Club, an initiative that has drawn young people into stronger collaboration with Small Christian Communities (SCCs). Together, they are shaping the parish into a living model of integral ecology, where faith, care for creation, and social responsibility converge. As a parish priest enthused to promote Church’s social teaching, and Laudato Si’ by Pope Francis, which reminds us that “everything is interconnected” (LS, 91). This effort brings to real life a deeper understanding theology and the catechesis love of neighbor in ways that our Christians and easily young people understand.
Community Gardens – Cultivating Both Soil and Soul
At the parish level, the youth, in collaboration with SCCs, are maintaining both flower and kitchen gardens are catechetical spaces where the dignity of work, stewardship of creation, and solidarity are taught through action. Seasonal efforts such as supporting goat projects and using organic manure have enriched the fertility of the land and strengthened the sustainability of parish life.
More profoundly, these gardens have become schools of hope. The youth are formed in modern organic farming techniques and are encouraged to take this knowledge to their homes. In doing so, they address food security issues in families and respond to the call to care for life, especially that of children and the vulnerable. Thus, the garden becomes both a source of nourishment and a sacrament of God’s providence.
Reconciliation Gardens – Spaces of Grace and Communion
Each month, the different Small Christian Communities gather in the “Reconciliation Garden.” A sacred outdoor space, here members engage in dialogue about family life, challenges within their communities, and pathways toward peace and healing. These encounters culminate in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist in a natural setting, a “church without walls,” where creation itself participates in praise. This practice has quietly revived a culture of mentorship. Elders accompany the young not only in matters of faith but also in the art of living well, resolving conflicts, nurturing relationships, and discerning God’s will in daily life. In this way, SCCs reclaim their identity as true domestic churches.
Care for Churches and Creation
The Laudato Si’ Club also extends its mission to outstation churches, engaging in tree planting, maintaining green compounds, and establishing eco-gardens. These activities are not peripheral; they are expressions of a spirituality that recognizes creation as a gift entrusted to our care. The visible greening of church environments becomes a sign of an inward ecological conversion.
A Living Laboratory of Integral Ecology
What is emerging in this parish is a powerful witness: Small Christian Communities are becoming laboratories of integral ecology. They are no longer merely administrative units but living cells of evangelization, formation, and transformation. Faith is no longer confined to liturgical moments; it flows into homes, farms, relationships, and daily decisions of community and unity.
With the Laudato Si Club in our parish one observes a growing unity among Christians, a holistic growth where what is learnt in the Church is incarnated in family life. This is the true fruit of evangelization: a community that lives what it believes and that’s how we incorporate the Laudato Youth Initiative model of uniting for Climate Action in an integral way.
A Pastoral Invitation
In light of this experience, I invite people in parishes to prayerfully reflect on how the Laudato Si’ Club model might be integrated into their own pastoral structures. The renewal of the Church often begins in small, faithful steps, in gardens tilled together, in conversations held under trees, in shared acts of care.
For in nurturing the earth, we nurture one another; and in caring for creation, we rediscover the Creator who calls us into communion, justice, and love.
Rev. Fr. Ronald Kawooya, C.S.C
Parish Priest St. Adolf Parish Kanyabachope
