by Valerian Kkonde
ACCPU
Responding
to the Cry of the Earth is a call to protect our common home for the well-being
of all living creatures as we equitably address the climate crisis,
biodiversity loss, and ecological sustainability. Photo by Valerian Kkonde/ ACCPU
As Pope Francis’ landmark Encyclical -
Laudato Si’- continues to inspire the world to take concrete actions to care
for our common home, the Association of Catholic Communication Practitioners in
Uganda (ACCPU) has decided to journey with the entire Catholic Church to devise
means of attaining ecological conversion.
ACCPU made this commitment by enrolling
with Laudato Si’ Action Platform on December 20, 2025. The Laudato Si’ Action
Platform is the fruit of a unique collaboration between the Vatican’s Dicastery
for Promoting Integral Human Development, nearly 200 Catholic organizations,
and individuals from around the world.
This collaboration aims at accomplishing
the mission of implementing Catholic teaching about caring for the environment.
Laudato Si’ Action Platform prompts us to ponder essential questions like: How
do we navigate conversations on environmental stewardship with those who view
the world differently? How can I incorporate prayer into my sustainability
practice? Where do I begin if I want to make a change?
In the Laudato Si’ Action Platform
Annual Report 2025, H.E. Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J. the Prefect, Dicastery
for Promoting Integral Human Development called upon the faithful to remain
focused on the journey to care for our common home.
“Let us continue walking together in
faith. The Platform’s quiet strength lies in its resilience and adaptability to
work in loving partnership to promote ecological conversion through attentive
listening, sharing, and determined action, despite many global and local crises
and challenges. These commitments go far beyond mere symbolic gestures—they are
signs of a Church alive, credible, and courageous.”
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“I would like to invite everyone to
tackle this journey together…Only in this way we will be able to create the
future we want: a more inclusive, fraternal, peaceful, and sustainable world.”
-Pope Francis in Laudato Si’
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On her part, Sr. Alessandro Smerilli
F.M.A. urged the people to “continue this pilgrimage, listening to the cry of
the Earth and the cry of the poor, as we put the Gospel into action with
courage and grace in every corner of the world.”
Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, is Secretary, Dicastery
for Promoting Integral Human Development.
ACCPU brings together individuals and
groups of Catholic communicators in Uganda with a Vision of a united fraternity
of Catholic communicators living and promoting Catholic values. Our Mission is to
unite Catholic communication practitioners in Uganda for the promotion of
evangelisation and integral human development.
ACCPU’s active members write, produce,
manage and distribute media content in all forms. Members include both those
working with the Catholic Church -founded media institutions and those working
in the secular media. As Catholic communicators, the media of social
communication, in all its expressions, is used for the glory of God and peace
to all humanity.
Improving
guardianship of natural areas is crucial to safeguarding Earth's ecosystems.
Climate change is an increasingly serious driver of biodiversity loss and
ecosystem degradation. Photo by Valerian
Kkonde/ ACCPU
In this Encyclical, Pope Francis warns
against the exploitation and destruction of the environment and invites every
citizen of the world to view the environment as "a collective good, the
heritage of all humanity, and the responsibility of all." Touched by this
invitation, ACCPU took a decision to use the means of social communication, at
our disposal, to respond to the ecological crisis.
The Laudato Si’ Action Platform has
seven Goals which guide the actions of members. These include: response to the
cry of the earth, response to the cry of the poor, ecological economics and
adoption of sustainable lifestyles. Others are ecological education, ecological
spirituality and community resilience and empowerment. These Goals call for a
spiritual and cultural revolution to realize integral ecology.
A new Certificate of Commitment has been
introduced to honour those institutions —parishes, schools, dioceses, and
religious communities—“that persevere, in love and action, as living witnesses
of care for our common home.”
The Association of Catholic Communication
Practitioners in Uganda has decided to embark on fundraising for funds to be
able to implement its plan. ACCPU plans to hold trainings for Catholic
communicators on reporting about climate change so that they are equipped with
knowledge and skills to open discussions with their audiences on this critical
global challenge.
The trainings will be held on the
Ecclesiastical Province level and twenty five communicators will be trained in
every Province. We have four Ecclesiastical Provinces in Uganda. This will lead
to a network of one hundred communicators equipped to address the ecological
crisis in light of Laudato Si’ and the teaching of the Church. Equipped to
combat climate change across the country, they will acquire a deeply felt duty
to inform their audiences about a shift that is already overturning their
lives.
The communicators will also be able to
hold government and other powerful actors to account. They will as well enable
Christian communities know that we have a responsibility toward creation, and
must assert this responsibility in the public sphere as well as in our daily
lifestyle.
Given the prevailing circumstances, with
many climate deniers and misuse of the media, it is crucial to provide correct
information about Climate Change so as to counter mis/disinformation and
indifference.
Most importantly, Catholic communicators
will be guided on the Encyclical Laudato Si’ so that they can understand, appreciate
its spirit and live it.
ACCPU will as well put in place an
online magazine or platform. This will not only be a platform for our stories
on climate change but will enable ACCPU to put to the fore front the Catholic
Church’s teachings and social doctrine on the matters of environmental justice
and the common good.
We further intend to bring on board
radio programs depending on the availability of funds. Radio was the first
social network. Now, we plan to use
social media to deepen audience relationships. We plan to increase engagement
on-air and online, building loyalty and getting more people to listen for
longer. Social media converts followers
into listeners.
Social media plays a vital role in transforming people’s life styles. It
has many positive implications, including promoting awareness of specific
causes, advertising businesses and helping foster friendships between
individuals who may have never met without social networking.
Laudato Si’ Action Platform Goals that
speak to us most include: response to the cry of the earth, response to the cry
of the poor, adoption of sustainable lifestyles, ecological education and
community resilience and empowerment.
Witness to Martyrdom. It was under this tree in Munyonyo, in 1886, that the decision to sentence the future Uganda Martyrs to death was made. Photo by Valerian Kkonde/ ACCPU
The state of the environment in Uganda
meets the urgent call for action made by Pope Francis. It requires a concerted
effort to implement the desired action for change. It is with this in mind that
the Association of Catholic Communication Practitioners in Uganda has decided
to organize trainings for Catholic communicators to ensure that they
appropriately respond the environmental crisis.
Uganda has mostly a tropical climate
characterised by stable rainfall patterns. However, the effects of climate
change have turned the seasons around with the country experiencing shorter or
longer rains and harsher droughts- especially in the Eastern and North-Eastern
Uganda.
According to the National Environment
Management Authority (NEMA), Uganda has experienced a significant decline in
forest cover, with encroachment for agriculture, wood fuel, production, and
other development pressures contributing to this loss. The country is experiencing the effects of
climate change, including changing rainfall patterns, increased droughts, and
extreme weather events, impacting livelihoods and ecosystems.
The unsustainable exploitation of
natural resources, including land and water, is leading to degradation and
reduced ecosystem services. Environmental degradation is impacting the ability
of ecosystems to provide essential services, contributing to poverty and
hindering sustainable development.
NEMA also affirms that the state of our
environment will determine the level of our prosperity now and for future
generations. Over-exploitation of our natural resources is increasingly leading
to environmental degradation and contributing to reduced ecosystem services and
disasters. Reduced ecosystem services in turn contribute to poverty.
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“As stewards of God’s creation, we are
called to act swiftly, with faith and prophecy, to protect the gift He
entrusted to us”. Pope Leo XIV
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NEMA is the principal agency responsible
for environmental management, coordinating, monitoring, and supervising all
activities related to the environment. They also play a key role in
developing environmental policies, laws, regulations, and standards, guiding
the government on sound environmental practices.
Raising public awareness about
environmental issues and promoting responsible environmental practices is
crucial for achieving sustainable development. This is what ACCPU intends
to do through this project to ensure that its members commit to act and to take
personal and collective care.
Teaching on creation, ecology, and the
poor are grounded in the Church’s deep history. In recent years St. John Paul
II, Pope Benedict XVI and especially Pope Francis, have added a sense of
urgency to their call for Catholics to act on climate change. This is how we
have planned our response to the call to care for creation and care for the
poor.
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