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CONTACT:
Mr Benard Kahwa, Executive Director LYI: 0702163596/0781996608
laudatoyouthinitiative@gmail.com | info@laudato-youthinitiative.org
laudatoyouthinitiative@gmail.com | info@laudato-youthinitiative.org
Laudato Youth Initiative to Launch its Laudato Si’ Green Festival in Fort Portal Diocese
FORT PORTAL, UGANDA – The Laudato Youth Initiative (LYI), in collaboration with the Youth Apostolate of Fort Portal Diocese, is proud to announce the inaugural Western Region Laudato Si’ Green Festival (LSiGF), scheduled for 10 October 2026 at Holy Cross Novitiate, Lake Saaka, Fort Portal City. This landmark event will convene youth, faith leaders, environmental advocates, and the broader community to advance climate action and ecological stewardship in Uganda’s Western Region. We will begin by listening to what Pope Francis calls “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
As Uganda’s ONLY Faith Inspired Environmental Festival
Mr. Benard Kahwa, Executive Director of the Laudato Youth Initiative, commented: “Environmental conservation in Uganda is fundamentally linked to peace, livelihoods, and sustainable development. By empowering youth to unite for climate action, we are fostering a new generation of environmental stewards and catalysts for positive change.” The Laudato Youth Initiative, inspired by Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’, empowers youth nationwide to champion environmental stewardship, sustainable innovation, and positive social change through its Laudato Si Clubs activities and programs, Laudato Voices Magazine, and the Green Festival platform.
About the Laudato Si’ Green Festival
Guided by Pope Francis’ call in Laudato Si’ that “everything is interconnected,” the festival unites youth in Laudato Si Clubs, Other environmental Clubs and communities to develop and implement practical environmental solutions, such as tree planting, clean-up campaigns, waste management, and sustainable eco-innovations, while fostering mentorship, ecological values, and positive behavioral change. Through prayer, creative arts, awareness, research and the celebration of Uganda Martyrs’ ecological legacy, the festival addresses Uganda’s environmental challenges by inspiring faith-driven, collective action for a sustainable future.
The Western Region Laudato Si’ Green Festival
The festival will unite youth from over 15 Laudato Si’ Clubs in schools, parishes, universities, and community corporate environmental organizations across the Diocese of Fort Portal, alongside the community. A special Mass for the Care of Creation and prayers for ecological conversion will unite attendees in faith-based action. Honoring the legacy of the Uganda Martyrs, especially our patron St. Adolf Tibeyalirwa Ludigo, patron of hardesmen and farmers. Participants will pray, celebrate grassroots environmental achievements, receive mentorship, learn from peers, network, and exchange practical solutions for peacebuilding and sustainable living. “Our goal is to nurture environmentally conscious citizens and bring together people of goodwill for collective climate action to address the pressing challenges facing our nation,” said Rev. Fr. Paul Mugabyomu, Diocesan Youth Chaplain.
Preparation for the Inaugural Laudato Si’ Green Festival
Preparations for the festival are progressing under the guidance of an organizing committee comprising representatives from the Laudato Youth Initiative, the Youth Apostolate of Fort Portal Diocese, St. Maria Goretti Girls Secondary School, various Laudato Si’ clubs, school and religious leaders, and other key stakeholders committed to faith-driven environmental stewardship.
Festival Activities and Participation
Led by St. Maria Goretti Girls Secondary School, the festival will also include participation from other Laudato Si’ clubs in the diocese, such as Nyakasura School, Divine Mercy SS, Ave Maria SS, Buhemba Primary School, Mountains of the Moon University, Moreau Primary School, St. Adolf Holy Cross Parish Kanyabachope, St. Padre Pio Nyahuka, St. John Mary Vianney SSS, St. Mary’s Minor Seminary Virika, St. Leo’s College Kyegobe, St. Joseph’s Hill SSS, and others.
Pre-festival activities
Pre-festival activities encompass community clean-ups, radio outreach, environmental awareness campaigns, and sensitization sessions in schools and neighborhoods to mobilize Fort Portal City and its environs toward ecological conversion and healthier communities. A highlight will be the Green March through Fort Portal City, designed to raise awareness and galvanize leadership for a more sustainable, youth-focused regional future. Key festival activities include:
Mass for the Care of Creation. The Holy Mass will be presided over by the Most Rev. Robert Muhiirwa Akiiki, Bishop of Fort Portal Diocese. St. Maria Goretti Girls Secondary School will lead the liturgical animation and choir, with participation from Nyakasura School, St. Mary’s Minor Seminary, Divine Mercy SSS, and Moreau Primary School. Special Message from the Bishop and a Speech from the Guest of Honor
Ave Maria Secondary School will lead student presentations and storytelling for integral ecology, including poetry, music, dance, and drama.
The festival will include eco-exhibitions, knowledge booth dialogues, student creative presentations, and opportunities for networking and knowledge sharing.
Ave Maria Secondary School will lead student presentations and storytelling for integral ecology, including poetry, music, dance, and drama.
The festival will include eco-exhibitions, knowledge booth dialogues, student creative presentations, and opportunities for networking and knowledge sharing.
Join Us in Supporting the Laudato Si’ Green Festival
Individuals, environmental organizations, government leaders, civil society, the media, and the wider public are invited to join in advancing the shared mission of peacebuilding, ecological responsibility, and sustainable development. In commemoration of the Season of Creation, themed “Living Water,” our Mass will be held in a “natural cathedral” by the lakeside. We will also pray in memory of St. Francis of Assisi,whose 800th anniversary of death we will mark, placing life at hand and exploring it through relationships, culture, spirituality, well-being, and new technologies.
Church and religious leaders, environmental organizations, government authorities, schools, civil society, media professionals, private-sector partners, and the general public are called upon to help make this historic initiative a success.
How to Participate
- Register your institution to participate in the Laudato Si’ Green Festival and encourage your community to join.
- Partner with the organizing committee by contributing expertise, resources, networks, or financial support.
- Mobilize your church, organization, school, institution, business, or community to promote care for our common home.
- Champion concrete solutions that protect creation, promote peace, and advance a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable future in your institution or organization.
Let us walk together in faith-inspired ecological conversion, following the example of St. Francis and Pope Francis in Laudato Si’, and respond to the urgent call to care for our common home. Join our initiative by supporting the Laudato Si’ Green Festival or taking action today for creation and future generations. For more information, partnership opportunities, or to participate, please contact the individuals listed above.
About the Laudato Si Green Festival
Since 2023, the Laudato Youth Initiative has organized impactful and scalable Laudato Si Green Festivals. Read about our previous festivals in the Eastern Region. As Pope Francis reminds us in Laudato Si,
“Hope would have us recognize that there is always a way out, that we can always redirect our steps, that we can always do something to solve our problems” (LS 61).
Students Rally for Environmental Action at Laudato Si Green Festival in Jinja (Nile Post) – July 2025
“Catholic Church-led event draws hundreds of learners to promote eco-awareness, sustainable living, and climate responsibility”
Uganda’s Holy Cross Lake View School – transforming young minds and lives at Laudato Si Green Festival (Vatican News) – July 2026
“The Initiative is a youth-led climate and ecological action program rooted in Catholic Social Teaching, inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 ecological encyclical: Laudato Si’”.
