“Be good custodians of the earth”: Ugandan Archbishop Urges Women in Africa to Lead in Environmental Stewardship

Kampala, 30 July, 2025 / 2:49 AM

The Archbishop of Uganda’s Catholic Archdiocese of Kampala has called on women across Africa to take a leading role in safeguarding the environment.

In his homily during the Eucharistic Celebration for the official opening of the Africa regional conference of the World Union of Catholic Women Organizations (WUCWO) at the Namungongo Uganda Martyrs Shrine in his Metropolitan See, Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere emphasized the need “to change the trend of abuse to God’s creation.”

“I encourage all the women present here today and those following through the media to be good custodians of this Earth,” said Archbishop Ssemogerere in his Tuesday, July 29 homily.

He expressed concern that “currently, there are many signs to show that we still have a long way to go in implementing what Pope Francis taught us in Laudato Si'.”

“We still live as if we are alone on this earth and we are hurting God's creation and ourselves,” said the Ugandan Catholic Church leader at the opening of the five-day conference organized on the theme: Women Custodians of Mother Earth”.

Archbishop Ssemogerere encouraged women in Africa to remain steadfast in promoting sustainable practices and environment education to safeguard the environment.

In his July 29 homily, the 69-year old Catholic Church leader acknowledged the contribution of women in the evangelization mission of the church and called on them to continue inspiring others to a life of holiness.

He said, “Women have had a tremendous impact on the work of evangelization. Anybody in Uganda can attest to the fact that the Churches have more women daily and on Sundays attending Mass in the Eucharist and actively getting involved in Church activities.”

“The good children the Church and society have, or have had, are from the dedicated mothers of this land,” he added, noting that, “women have a unique place in their work in the Church as teachers of faith in family and wider society.”

He said that survival and good health of a family depends much on women, adding, “This applies equally to the wider family because, as the theme of this conference says, women are custodians of Mother Earth.”

At the official opening of the WUCWO conference, which coincided with the Feast of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, Archbishop Ssemogerere also urged women to emulate the virtues of the three saints, saying their lives present a model for a holistic and authentic relationship with Jesus.

“Each one of them shows us an aspect of the correct relationship we need to have with Jesus, making a holistic life with Jesus,” he said, adding that Martha, Mary and Joseph, “invite us to welcome Jesus and be with Him as Mary did, to be generous with Him as Martha did by offering Him hospitality and to promptly respond to His word as Lazarus listened and promptly rose from the tomb.”

He urged the 220 Catholic women leaders from across the African continent who gathered at Namugongo to draw particular inspiration from Mary, whom he said “merited the praise of Jesus” for recognizing the importance of being with Him and listening to Him before rushing to serve.

“If we rush without first listening to Him, we might go without Him and certainly without the ability to represent His opinion to the world,” he said and went on to caution against the dangers of spiritual noise and distraction.

He said, “What is more painful is the fact that for some people, the noise is ever present even in their own hearts and minds. The result is to live a meaningless life, full of sadness and at times even despair.”

“The noise might even come from external insecurities that confront us,” he said, pointing to corruption, materialism, immorality, and the exploitation of young women, including abortion, practices he described as both illegal and deeply harmful.

He called on the women leaders attending the conference to be defenders of life, protectors of creation and raise their voices against abortion which he observed leave women “totally injured and hurt, some of them permanently, physically, socially, mentally and psychologically.”

“I pray that the women leaders who came for this pilgrimage and for the conference and indeed all of us will use this very opportunity to renew our friendship with Jesus,” said Archbishop Ssemogerere in his July 29 homily for the opening of the WUCWO conference, which is set to conclude on August 1.