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Oct 10, 2014

Interview with Dr. Celia Deane-Drummond. Part 3: Justice, hope, and "the heart of faith."

"Ecology is at the heart of faith."

Part 1 │ Part 2 │ Part 3

We come to the last of our three-part interview with the University of Notre Dame's Dr. Celia Deane-Drummond.

Catholic Ecology: We’ve mentioned climate change a number of times. I am increasingly concerned about the division within the Church between those who take climate change seriously and those who don’t—and the politicization on both sides of the issue. What are your thoughts as to why some people believe that the Church should stay out of the topic?

Dr. Deane-Drummond: I think part of the problem is that what happens in America—and it’s extremely unusual—is to link climate change with a particular political party. So it becomes attached to a political party and it is then associated with other things, like pro-life issues, in a way that is extremely damaging. In fact if you are pro-life than you should support eco-theology and ecological issues.

I find it very hard to understand this politicization, certainly, as a foreigner—

CE: I’m a life-long citizen of the United States and I find it hard to understand!

Dr. Deane-Drummond: [Laughs] Well, I do try. These issues should be apolitical, they’re too...

Oct 9, 2014

Interview with Dr. Celia Deane-Drummond. Part 2: Recovering the cosmic Christ

"If you show that Christ and creation are intimately linked then suddenly the pennies start to drop as to why creation is also important"

Part 1 │ Part 2 │ Part 3

We continue with the second in our three-part interview with Dr. Celia Deane-Drummond of the University of Notre Dame. Having taken a wide look in Part 1 at the global variations in eco-theology, we delve deeper into issues such as the impact of Pope Francis on Catholic ecology, how to practice what we preach, and the necessity to recover the concept of the cosmic Christ.

Catholic Ecology: I was struck by something you said earlier—that the Western Church may have lost some of its sense of wonder in the liturgy, especially as it relates to link between creation and worshiping the Creator. In Eco-Theology you note a surprising lack of connection between eco-theologies and Christology. Tell us a little more about why theologians and/or Christian ecological practitioners should keep Christ toward the center of their work?

Dr. Deane-Drummond: It’s important, first of all, to recover creation, but then to see creation through what you might call a Trinitarian lens—in a sense seeing traces of the Trinity, as Thomas Aquinas said, there in the created order, but also seeing Christ in a different...

Oct 8, 2014

Interview with Dr. Celia Deane-Drummond. Part 1: Global variations in eco-theology

First of a three-part interview with Professor Celia Deane-Drummond of the University of Notre Dame

Part 1 │ Part 2 │ Part 3

We’re fortunate to begin a three-part interview with Professor Celia Deane-Drummond, a full Professor in Theology at the University of Notre Dame. The conversation opens with a look at global variations in the theological perspective of ecology, and then moves on to the contributions of Pope Francis, the necessity for believers to keep Christ at the heart of ecological discussions, and much, much more.

Dr. Deane-Drummond’s unique appointment at the University of Notre Dame is concurrent between the Department of Theology in the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Science. She was elected Fellow of the Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame in September 2011.

From 2000 to 2011 she held a professorial chair in theology and the biological sciences at the University of Chester, and was Director of the Centre for Religion and the Biosciences that was launched in 2002. In May 2011 she was elected Chair of the European Forum for the Study of Religion and Environment.

Since 1992 she has published as a single author or as an editor twenty two books, as well as thirty three...

Oct 7, 2014

Cardinal Turkson, US Church leaders to meet on food, faith, and the environment

A Catholic cardinal is bringing Pope Francis' message of ecology to the United States next month as part of a groundbreaking gathering on food, faith, and the environment.

Cardinal Peter Turkson will deliver the keynote address and participate in working sessions at the Faith, Food & the Environment Symposium, which will confront the challenges of 21st century agriculture from a faith-based perspective.

The symposium will be held from Nov. 5th to 7th on the St. Paul campus of the University of St. Thomas.

Cardinal Turkson—known for his clear stance on ecological issues—serves as the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in the Vatican and is considered a leading authority on the ethics of agriculture. The Ghanaian native has played a leading role in drafting Pope Francis' forthcoming encyclical on the environment.

His presentation, expected to hint at what the world can expect from the pope, will be held at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 5th, in the O’Shaughnessy Education Center Auditorium on St. Thomas’s campus. The lecture is free and open to the public. Seats can be reserved at ffesymposium.eventbrite.com.

Also contributing to the event will be five bishops, including Bishop Richard Pates...

Sep 28, 2014

Interview with Monsignor Kevin W. Irwin: God, nature, and the liturgy

A great many thanks to Rev. Msgr. Kevin W. Irwin, M.Div. S.T.D. for discussing the foundational links between the Catholic faith, its liturgies, and the created order.

I was first introduced to Msgr. Irwin in 2007. A Dominican priest and mutual friend sent me a paper he had written for the eighth International Congress on Liturgy. The paper touched on the relation between the sacraments and creation. From this I wrote a column for the Rhode Island Catholic. In all, the paper's insights provided watershed teaching moments for me and I am glad that Msgr. Irwin has taken the time to explain it all to you here.

Msgr. Irwin serves in the Archdiocese of New York. He is a member of the North American Academy of Liturgy, the Catholic Academy of Liturgy, the Society for Catholic Liturgy, and the Catholic Theological Society of America. He has served as the Dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America. And he holds the Walter J. Schmitz, Chair of Liturgical Studies and is the author of sixteen books on liturgy and sacraments.

For more on Msgr. Irwin visit his biography at...

Sep 28, 2014

Responding to hostile climates

Of the thirty or so comments to my Catholic World Report piece on climate change, all but two or three could be characterized as angry at me for writing it, angry at CWR for publishing it, or angry at anyone who takes climate change seriously (which I suppose includes Pope Francis and Benedict XVI).

Some call me a Marxist or despicable. Some include links to reports that show climate change is not happening, of that if it is, it is natural. Some call me to task for seeking to redistribute wealth (even if I didn’t mention any specific solution). Many are anonymous.

I told one theologian about all this and she smiled. “Bill, I think you’ve pushed many of the readers at Catholic World Report well past the edge of their comfort zone.”

All I was trying to do was offer a bridge between those in the Church who are engaged in the issue and those who deny it. After all, disunity is not what Our Lord wishes. Rather, it is a sign of the work of our ancient enemy.

Here’s a sampling of the comments:

  • Get over it.....it's called WEATHER....sometimes hot, sometimes cold, sometimes just right.
    • ...

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About the Blog

Catholic Ecology posts my regular column in the Rhode Island Catholic, as well as scientific and theological commentary about the latest eco-news, both within and outside of the Catholic Church. What is contained herein is but one person's attempt to teach and defend the Church's teachings - ecological and otherwise. As such, I offer all contents of this blog for approval of the bishops of the Church. It is my hope that nothing herein will lead anyone astray from truth.