Natural and Human Ecology: A panel discussion on Laudato Si'

***PLEASE READ: REGARDING PARKING***

Due to the large number of RSVPs, parking will be limited. We encourage you to arrive early; doors open at 8:00 a.m., and coffee and breakfast refreshments will be available.

Following are parking options:

SHUTTLE SERVICE:

Bus shuttle service will be available from the Cathedral of St. Paul. Daily mass at the Cathedral is at 7:30 a.m. A bus will depart from the Cathedral for the University of St. Thomas Anderson Student Center at 8:00 a.m. and at 8:30 a.m.

The return shuttle from the University of St. Thomas Anderson Student Center to the Cathedral will depart at 11:50 a.m. and 12:15 p.m., following the event.

We recommend that event attendees who have difficulty walking consider the shuttle option.

CAMPUS PARKING:

Parking will be available in the Anderson Parking Ramp located at Cretin at the west end of Grand Ave. (Map – the Anderson Student Center is #27; the Anderson Parking Ramp is #71)

There is a fee associated with parking in the ramp; the cost is $1.50/hr. (NOTE: We are told that parking will likely be free on the 9th, for the first day of classes – the parking arms will probably be raised all day long.) After parking, you will walk directly north on Cretin, to the Anderson Student Center located on the northeast corner of Cretin and Summit Aves. The building is identified on the campus map as #27.

You are also welcome to park on the street, where available. Please follow all parking signs accordingly. Some nearby areas have restricted, permit-only parking during the week. There tends to be fewer parking restrictions on the residential streets south of Grand Ave.

Even better! Go to the event the green way. Find out more about convenient, alternative St. Paul transportation options at ST. PAUL SMART TRIPS: http://www.smart-trips.org/.

EVENT DETAILS

The encyclical Laudato Si’, On care for our common home, was released earlier this summer, June 18, and continues to be a hot topic of discussion for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Through Laudato Si’, Pope Francis is speaking as a pastor to Catholics around the world, and all people of good will, offering moral considerations rooted in foundational Catholic teachings about care for others and care for God’s creation.

What are the moral considerations? What do they look like applied to daily life? How might they change how we consider Creation, both human and natural? What sort of good could they foster in our communities?

Join Minnesota Catholic Conference, Catholic Rural Life, and the University of St. Thomas Center for Catholic Studies, along with the Catholic bishops of Minnesota and others, to shed some light (and less heat) on these questions and more!

Discussion panelists include...

• Cecilia Calvo, Project Coordinator of the Environmental Justice Program, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

• Dr. Daniel Finn, Clemens Professor in Economics & Liberal Arts and professor of theology, St. John’s University

• Dr. Christopher Thompson, Academic Dean, The St. Paul Seminary

• Fr. Joseph Backowski, Pastor, St. Mary's in Breckenridge, Minn. and St. Thomas in Kent, Minn. Catholic churches

• Fred Callens, owner of Callens Honey Farm, St. Leo, Minn.
  

...with special remarks from Paul Douglas, nationally-recognized meteorologist and entrepreneur!

Additional remarks will be made by Jim Ennis, Executive Director, Catholic Rural Life, and the Most Reverend Paul Sirba, Bishop of Duluth.