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Commemorating Pope Francis’s arrival to the United States, The Center for Faith and Public Life and the Center for Catholic Studies will sponsor a panel discussion “Ecology and Catholic Social Teaching: The Pope’s New Encyclical,” on Tuesday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kelley Center Presentation Room. Panelists will discuss Pope Francis’s latest encyclical, Laudato S í, from the viewpoint of their respective disciplines.

Panelists include Dr. James Biardi, associate professor of biology and chair of the Environmental Studies Program; Dr. David Downie, associate professor of politics and environmental studies; Dr. Dina Franceschi, professor of economics; and Dr. Paul Lakeland, Aloysius P. Kelley S.J. Professor of Catholic Studies. Melissa Quan, director of the Office of Service Learning and associate director of the Center for Faith and Public Life, will moderate the panel.

Our expert panelists will participate in an interdisciplinary conversation on Pope Francis’s urgent yet hopeful cry for ecological change in his Laudato S í , where he describes an “urgent challenge to protect our common home … to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development.” By attending the panel, attendees are joining the conversation and gaining a realistic understanding of how we, as individuals and as a �����Ƶ University community, can respond.

“Climate change is a critical, global issue that impacts all of us,” said Quan on the relevancy of this panel. “Polls have shown that very few Catholics are aware that this encyclical exists. Yet, climate change is a critical, global issue that impacts all of us.  Further, this event falls during the same week that Pope Francis will be addressing a joint session of Congress and he is the first pope ever to address Congress.”

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Melissa Quan at 203-254-4000, ext. 3455, or mquan@fairfield.edu .

By Lindsay Stephen '16