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Fall 2008 Series: Sustainability and the Christian Tradition

Caring for Creation: Human Dignity and the Common Good

Alexia Kelley will connect care for creation to the struggle to promote and protect human dignity and justice. She will show how the Catholic social tradition and the commitment to the common good speaks to ecological issues today. Kelley is executive director and co-founder of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, Washington, DC and co-author of A Nation for All: How the Catholic Vision of the Common Good Can Save America from the Politics of Division (2008).

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Small Is Not Enough: A Cultural and Political Critique of Sustainability

Eugene McCarraher will examine the Christian theological and spiritual foundations of sustainability. McCarraher contends that sustainability as it is often understood can divert our attention from even more important matters: democracy in the workplace, redistribution of wealth, and the assumption of "scarcity" underlying capitalist economics. The Christian socialist tradition offers a way of expanding discussion of sustainable economic and ecological practices. McCarraher teaches at Villanova University and is author of Christian Critics: Religion and the Impasse in Modern American Social Thought (2000).

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Listen to the Universe

Elizabeth Michael Boyle, OP, brings the vision and sensitivity of a poet to an exploration of the spiritual link between theology and science. What does it mean to embody a spirituality of sustainability in an increasingly secular world? What can poetry teach us about science? How can science enhance our idea of God? Boyle is a poet who teaches at Caldwell College. She wrote Science as Sacred Metaphor: An Evolving Revelation (2006) and Preaching the Poetry of the Gospels: A Lyric Companion to the Lectionary (2003).

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The Field and the Force: Religion and Ecology Meet

Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim conclude the fall series by moving us toward the interreligious dimension of sustainability. How does the care of creation connect with contemporary creation spiritualities, ancient native traditions, and the worldviews of the major world religions? Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim co-direct the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University, where they also teach. Together they directed ten conferences on World Religions and Ecology at Harvard, which resulted in the Religions of the World and Ecology series. Besides these volumes, Tucker has written Worldly Wonder: Religions Enter Their Ecological Phase (2003) and Grim is author of The Shaman (1983).

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MAZZUCHELLI LECTURE

The Heart of the Catholic Story

Michael J. Himes will explore the sacramental tradition within Catholicism. How can the sacramental imagination move us toward building a more sustainable future for ourselves and our children? Himes is a priest of the diocese of Brooklyn, New York and a professor of theology at Boston College. He is author of The Mystery of Faith: An Introduction to Catholicism, other books and numerous articles, as well as recipient of numerous honorary doctorates and awards.

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ALBERTUS MAGNUS LECTURE

Ethics After Darwin

Stephen J. Pope will examine what it means to be human in light of evolutionary science. What does it mean to talk of ethics after Darwin? How does Christian ethics reflect the nature of the human as understood within this changed landscape? Pope is professor of theology at Boston College. He is author of The Evolution of Altruism and the Ordering of Love (1994) and more recently Human Evolution and Christian Ethics (2007).

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Special Event

Journey Into Love

Mary Clemente Davlin, OP, will invite us to experience Piers Plowman, a masterpiece of the English Middle Ages. Many twenty-first century concerns are foreshadowed in this poem, such as social justice, the importance of marriage and the body, and an ecological spirituality. Sister Clemente, the author of numerous works on this text, will read from her new book, A Journey into Love: Meditating with Piers Plowman, focusing on passages that highlight incarnational Advent spirituality and a Thanksgiving spirit.

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Advent Lecture

Sustaining Hope in a Dark Dawn

Kathy Kelly will help us enter into the spirit of Advent by reflecting on how we can sustain hope over the long haul. She will share experiences of how people caught in war zones, refugee communities, and prisons somehow maintain ways to build a better future for their children. Her reflections will illuminate the Advent scriptures. Kelly co-founded the Voices in the Wilderness campaign and currently co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She has written numerous articles and in 2005 published Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison.

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Caritas et Veritas Lecture

Discipleship and Transformation: A Dominican Perspective

Colleen Mallon, OP, will take us into a conversation about change within the church and larger society. In what way is Dominican University's motto, Caritas et Veritas, a call to discipleship? How can we be faithful to the service of truth? Sister Colleen is a Mission San Jose Dominican sister and theologian who specializes in the work of Yves Congar, OP, a Dominican friar whose vision of Church was foundational to the Second Vatican Council.

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Globalization and Sustainability

John Coleman, SJ will explore the paradox of globalization which makes possible an ever-widening relationship of mutual support and enrichment, while leading to unsustainable environmental and social practices. How can we globalize our moral and ethical understanding at a time of increasing planetary threat-and interconnection? Coleman is the Cassasa Professor of Social Values at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, and author of more than a hundred articles and books, including Globalization and Catholic Social Thought: Present Crisis, Future Hope (2005).

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Lenten Lecture

Forgiveness: Doorway to the House of Peace

Thomas J. Gumbleton will examine the spiritual and personal dimensions of living in a truly sustainable, life-giving way. He will share stories of his own journey and those of other wayfarers as he explores a critical Lenten theme. How does one forgive? How can we be people of peace in our culture? What spiritual disciplines can we learn from peacemakers today? Bishop Gumbleton, an auxiliary bishop in the Catholic archdiocese of Detroit, is the founding president of Pax Christi USA and a ceaseless campaigner for forgiveness and true peace in global, local, and ecclesial conflicts.

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Recasting the Bottom Line

Oliver Williams, CSC will explore global sustainability in light of the triple bottom line: economic, social, and environmental. How can everyday business life be truly attentive to sustainability, including the needs of the poorest worldwide? Williams teaches management and directs the Center for Ethics and Religious Values in Business at the University of Notre Dame. He has collaborated in the development of the United Nations' Global Compact as well as a host of initiatives in South Africa. His books include Economic Imperatives and Ethical Values in Global Business (2001).

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Taking Action for a Healthy Planet

Sarah McFarland Taylor will explore actions that promote sustainability based on her study of the pioneering role of Catholic sisters in advocating and acting for environmentally sustainable practices and lifestyles. What can we learn about the role of people of faith from this movement? How might we support and learn from these sisters? Taylor is author of Green Sisters: A Spiritual Ecology (2007). She is associate professor at Northwestern University and currently also a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Chicago's Martin Marty Center.

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Tending Our Garden

Michael Howard will help us connect sustainability to our own backyard, our families, and our faith. How can we better mentor our children and serve our communities? What can we learn from our communities' leaders, organizations and neighborhoods as we do our part? What does our faith have to do with all this? Howard is a nationally recognized visionary who directs Eden Place, an educationally-oriented park and nature center he built with the help of his community from an illegal dump site in the heart of southside Chicago. A leader with a passion for sustainability and community change, his story is told in Michael Howard's Eden Place: From Brownfield to Nature Preserve (DVD, 2006) and in Eden's Lost and Found, part of the PBS series Chicago: City of Big Shoulders with Scott Simon.

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Catherine of Siena Lecture

Catherine and the Voice of the Laity

Karen Scott is the featured speaker at the Siena Center's annual celebration in honor of Catherine of Siena. A noted historian on Catherine, she will address themes that the Medieval Dominican inspired in her time and continues to inspire in ours: reflection on the voice of the laity and the role of women. Catherine's creative use of imagery taken from ordinary life made her preaching and writing fruitful among varied audiences. While her time and ours are very different, her courage, graceful expression, and spiritual depth offer us a model for our own time. Scott, an associate professor of history and director of the Catholic Studies program at DePaul University, is author of numerous articles on the Medieval mystic.

 

The Priory Campus Auditorium and Chapel are located at 7200 West Division Street in River Forest, IL. For more information contact the Siena Center at (708) 714-9105 or siena@dom.edu. Group discounts available.
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