Laudato Voices | 12 September, 2026 | Our motherland is silent. The Lion of Tooro has been laid to rest.
When a great leader dies, a seed of hope is sown. He gives his life for others to thrive. The Lion of Tooro has been laid to rest; our motherland is Silent. For the Lion may have entered the silence, but his roar remains in the mountains he personally walked, as a legacy for his people to emulate as his soul ascended to the Father in heaven.
Our motherland is silent.
The Lion of Tooro has been laid to rest.
Sep 12, 2026, Karuzika Hill seemed to hold its breath,
the earth in Karambi received the mortal body of her son,
and the winds of Tooro carried the sorrow of a people.
But a great tree does not truly die
when its roots remain beneath the soil.
Its shadow lives in the memory of the land,
its seeds wait patiently for another season,
and its branches continue to speak
through the forests it once sheltered.
So, from this sacred silence, Laudato Youth rise with hope.
We remember a King of our generation
who did not remain behind palace walls,
but climbed where the mountains themselves
touch the heavens.
He journeyed to Margherita Peak, 5,109 meters above sea level
Uganda’s highest summit; he called it the source of life for his people
walking across the river, through the melting glaciers of Rwenzori,
the legendary Mountains of the Moon that define the beauty of Tooro
There, above the clouds, he witnessed a mountain in distress
a glacier shrinking beneath the changing climate,
a giant losing its ancient crown of ice.
And he called the Rwenzori Mountains
“the source of life” for his people.
His ascent was more than an eco-adventure or a climb.
It was a pilgrimage of witness, legacy, and Hope for the future of his Motherland
a king placing his feet upon the wounded earth so that the world might hear her cry,
appreciate her beauty, and see the need to preserve it for the future of the pearl of Africa.
His journey became Rwenzori: The Source of Life,
a story carried beyond the mountains,
linking Tooro’s heritage with Uganda’s tourism,
climate action and the urgent call
to protect fragile ecosystems in the words of Laudato Youth
He taught us that leadership
is not measured by the height of a throne,
but by the courage to descend into the realities of our people;
not by the words we proclaim,
but by the footprints we leave behind.
And now, as his own footprints fade from the paths of Tooro,
the path itself remains. Laudato Youth rise to walk it.
We rise with the rivers like Mpanga that flow from the mountains,
with the forests that breathe for generations unborn,
with the birds that carry songs across the valleys,
and with the young people who refuse
to inherit a silent, wounded Earth.
We rise for peace that heals,
unity that binds, sustainability that heals
and an ecology that gives life.
We rise to turn mourning into a legacy of hope,
memory into action, and grief into green hope.
For the Lion may have entered the silence,
but his roar remains in the mountains.
It echoes in the melting ice.
It trembles through the forests.
It travels with the rivers.
It lives in the hearts of the young.
Yes, Cancer is an enemy of our generation.
It takes away our legacy builders and Moral teachers.
Chemicals, Radiation, Pollution, and other cancer-causing substances and factors remain in our environment, looking for more lives to claim
Prevention is better than cure; he always told us that when fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS, we need to talk.
about Cancer and its related causes to safeguard our people and future generations
His love for sports meant we needed to stay healthy.
His reverence for God and Nature meant that Integral Ecology is a reality.
His love for the people and respect for elders meant empiisa emungi is a value.
Those using social media to fight should use it to build his legacy.
May the Lion rest beneath the soil of his ancestors.
May Tooro hold his memory like a sacred seed.
And may that seed grow into a forest of hope
rooted in peace, watered by unity,
and reaching toward a future
where the Rwenzori still gives life.
His reign has ended.
His witness has not.
The Lion rests.
But his call to protect our common home
must continue to roar
Laudato Youth Initiative will unite for prayer and
For Climate Action at the Laudato Si Green Festival
In Saaka, the Pearl of Fortal, and will give a special
ecological tribute to our revered king Oyo Nyimba Iguuru
Rukidi the IV, led by the Late Bishop Charles Martin Wamika Adyeeri’s
WWW.EMPIISAENUNGI.COM – LEGACY
King Oyo drew the world’s attention to the melting glacier and the vulnerability of the Rwenzori ecosystem; he championed youth, tourism, peace, and unity; and he described the Rwenzori as “the source of life” for his people. This legacy was unlike any other. He commended his people to God the Creator and encouraged them to put him at the forefront of their life’s work. Let’s meet at the Laudato Si Green Festival, an event with many activities, including a Mass dedicated to praying for Peace, creation, and the people who have devoted their lives to protecting human dignity and God’s Creation.
