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 of the Diocese of Des Moines, will participate, as will a number of Catholic moral theologians and scholars. Policy experts, such as Jason Adkins of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, Dan Misleh of the Catholic Climate Covenant, and Antony Granado of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, will also take part.

The Faith, Food & the Environment Symposium will bring together more than 40 leaders in the fields of agriculture and food production, environmental studies, and theology to examine how faith traditions can inform solutions to modern agricultural challenges, such as food shortages, environmental degradation, and the ethical use of biotechnology.

This year’s symposium is part of a broader initiative called “The Vocation of the Agricultural Leader,” which aims to provide leaders in the farming and food industries with practical, faith-based principles that can be applied to their daily work.

The November event will be followed by an international symposium in Milan, Italy, in 2015. The results of both symposiums will be used to develop a set of resources for the initiative.

The symposium is co-hosted by several organizations from the faith, academic and agricultural sectors. Co-hosts include Farmers Union Enterprises (Minnesota Farmers Union, Wisconsin Farmers Union, South Dakota Farmers Union, North Dakota Farmers Union, Montana Farmers Union), The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, Catholic Rural Life, the University of St. Thomas, the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Thomas, the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and the International Catholic Rural Association.

Readers of this blog can expect regular postings about the symposium, especially Cardinal Turkson’s talk. And so, stay tuned for much more.

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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.