Pauline Sister in Kenya Calls for More Awareness to Sustain the Spirit of Laudato Si’ in Africa, Beyond

“That is where I discovered what this environmental crisis means, what integral ecology means,” she said referring to the international event, which had representatives of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development alongside NGOs in attendance.

She added, “What shocked me was that they had called one girl from Beira who had experienced the cyclone, and many had died. At that conference, I came to know how cyclones are formed and how man or woman is tampering with Mother Earth.”

Credit: ACI Africa

In the October 1 interview, Sr. Olga highlighted the impact of Laudato Si’ in Africa, saying, “There is an awakening.”

The Mozambican Sister recalled that the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) has already had one of their plenary assemblies “dedicated to Laudato Si’.”

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“Many Dioceses in the southern part of Africa really started with this education on Laudato Si’ and have been creating awareness,” she said.

Credit: ACI Africa

Sr. Olga added that the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) most recent plenary also dedicated attention to ecology, which she said was a sign of hope amid slow progress in some places.

The FSP member recalled interacting with a professor in her home country Mozambique, whose research had been shaped by Pope Francis’ teaching on the care for creation.

The professor, she recalled , told her that before engaging with Laudato Si’, he used to ‘look at the environment as something out there. But Pope Francis, by bringing the notion of integral ecology to the fore, really touched him.

Credit: ACI Africa

She also highlighted the “course on the theology of Laudato Si’ at the Urbaniana University” as another concrete example of the impact the Encyclical has had, not only in Africa but also in other parts of the world.

Sr. Olga told ACI Africa that despite “more and more people are engaging” with Laudato Si’, a lot still needs to be done to create awareness about the encyclical because many others still do not know about its existence.

Credit: ACI Africa

“I feel the challenge, as a Church, is that we have to disseminate this Encyclical letter on the care of our common home” she said on the sidelines of the FSP event, in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, that was realized under the theme “peace with creation.”

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Nicholas Waigwa is a Kenyan multimedia journalist and broadcast technician with a professional background in creating engaging news stories and broadcasting content across multiple media platforms. He is passionate about the media apostolate and Catholic Church communication.