Integral ecology and spirituality as the path towards sustainable development: an interview with Father Emmanuel Katongole

July 25, 2022

Father Emmanuel Katongole is the visionary behind the Bethany Land Institute. Born in rural Uganda, Father Emmanuel spent his childhood close to the land, whether tending to crops, going to fetch water or looking after livestock. It taught him the importance of caring for our common home and became a starting point for his life's work: building deeper interconnections between communities, nature and God.

Together with two other Ugandan priests in 2012, Father Emmanuel began discussing the problems of deforestation, poverty and land depletion in rural Uganda. After researching successful agricultural training models and consulting with ecological and farming leaders, they bought a 95-acre plot of land in Luweero, Uganda using their own funds in order to plant a forest and to set up a model sustainable farm.

The encyclical letter of Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, was of particular inspiration to them: they understood that the major problems of deforestation, food insecurity and poverty in Africa are interconnected and addressing them requires an education program to cultivate a distinctive way of looking at things, a way of thinking, a lifestyle and a spirituality.

It was at the intersection of ecology, education and mindset shift that the Bethany Land Institute was born. Today, it is an ecological education center that teaches sustainable land management to young people, equipping them with the knowledge and skills they need to improve their livelihoods. The goal is to educate local communities about sustainable land management and help them develop skills to restore degraded lands, while providing them with an opportunity to learn about their cultural heritage and the value of their land.

The Bethany Land Institute is still in its early stages, but Father Emmanuel believes that it represents a potentially transformative model for developing a sustainable future in Africa and throughout the world. "The first thing that we need to realize is that we're all connected. And what happens in one part of the world affects us all. For example, the deforestation in Uganda affects people in other parts of Africa who are downstream from us, and it also affects the climate. And so, when we talk about development, we need to think about sustainable development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Bethany is not only a model for sustainable development, but an ethos for building community-driven values. In the Bible, Bethany was a village where the poor and excluded lived. It was the home of Martha, who welcomed Jesus in her house, and the home of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. And just as Martha and Mary opened their doors to welcome Jesus, so too are we called to open our hearts and doors to welcome the stranger among us.

And so, for Father Emmanuel, Bethany is about more than just developing sustainable land management practices; it's about creating a space where everyone can feel at home, cared for and valued. "The idea behind naming our project Bethany was to create a space where the excluded, the forgotten, those who have been discarded by society can feel at home. It is also a place of healing, just as Bethany was in the Bible. We want this to be a space where people can come and heal their relationship with nature, with God and with others."

If you would like to learn more about the Bethany Land Institute or make a donation to support their work, please visit their website here.

CPM