The Fourth Global Solidarity Conference

Global solidarity conference

A senior official with Catholic Relief Services will discuss how agriculture and the environment figure in emergency response to natural disasters during a conference Saturday, Feb. 27.

The fourth annual global solidarity conference will feature Dr. Shaun Ferris, the Senior Technical Advisor for Agriculture and the Environment at Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Dr. Ferris is responsible for providing strategic and technical advice to CRS’s field offices in support of a global relief and development project portfolio.

His comments on global relief efforts will be part of a keynote address Integrating Agriculture, Environment & the Market to Serve the Poor during the conference, Holding the Earth Lightly: A Call to Care for People and the Planet.

Conference participants also will receive updates from other Catholic Relief Services officials about the humanitarian aid efforts in Haiti.

The conference will be held at Kennedy Union at the University of Dayton. Check-in and a light breakfast starts at 8 a.m. The conference begins at 9 a.m. and concludes at 4 p.m. Conference participants and the public may attend a free showing of the documentary, They Killed Sister Dorothy, and a discussion with Sr. Joan Krimm SNDdeN, who is a childhood friend and member of Sr. Dorothy’s religious community.

The conference is a partnership of the Archdiocesan Catholic Social Action Office, the Catholic Relief Services Committee of the Archdiocesan Catholic Social Action Commission, Catholic Relief Services Midwest Office, the University of Dayton Center for Social Concern and the Marianist Environmental Education Center.

Workshop sessions will offer practical suggestions on how to care for God’s creation:

§         Just Environmental Spirituality, Sister Leanne Jablonski, Director of the Marianist Environmental Education Center, a guided reflection on nature’s beauty, scripture, saints, contemporary sages, and church social teaching and an exploration of environmental ethics and spirituality, and sustainable ways to simplify.

§         Co-creating a Sustainable Future, Sister Paula Gonzalez S.C., a lecturer, facilitator and consultant in the area of ecospirituality, notes the Vatican Council called us to 'read the signs of the times'. Current ecological and social challenges on our planet are sobering. What might happen if we humans recognize these realities as a call to energizing creativity and respond by accepting our role as co-creators of a future of harmony and balance? It can be exciting!

§         Everyday Environmental Choices, Kelly Bohrer and Mary Niebler , both from UD’s Center for Social Concern, will explore the easy, everyday changes people can make to lighten their environmental footprint while still living a happy and healthy life.

§         The Church’s Growing Environmental Tradition, Tony Stieritz, the director of the Archdiocesan Catholic Social Action Office, will discuss the growing environmental tradition of the Church as proclaimed by our recent popes and the bishops, especially Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, and his messages regarding climate change.

§         Human Doings by Human Beings, Ralph Dull, a lifetime farmer, world traveler, author of Nonviolence is Not for Wimps, a conscientious objector to war, and a Co-Founder of the Dayton International Peace Museum, will discuss the energy initiatives taking place at his family farm in Brookville, Ohio. Mr. Dull established the Green Energy Information Center on his farm.

§         Called to be Stewards of Creation: Forming a Green Team in Your Congregation, Marilyn Baumer, Louise Snyder and David Sullivan, parishioners of St. Francis of Assisi, Centerville, will discuss the Catholic call to environmental stewardship and the steps involved in beginning a green team ministry. All members of the parish’s Precious Planet Ministry they will share practical ideas from their own experience and invite participants to do the same. Participants will be able to obtain resources to use in their own parish and discuss steps to implement ideas in a parish setting.

§         Changing Our Lives in Response to Global Climate Change, Sister Leanne Jablonski, Director of the Marianist Environmental Education Center, will note the impacts of climate change from our region to the globe, and how inequities are predicted to increase. Participants will discover the best choices for lightening their carbon footprint. through programs of www.catholicsandclimatechange.org and Interfaith Power and Light www.ohipl.org,

§         Addressing the Food, Fuel and Financial Crisis in Africa, Shaun Ferris, the Senior Technical Advisor for Agriculture and the Environment at Catholic Relief Services, will offer views from the field on the food, fuel and financial crisis experienced in Africa.

§         Urban Pollution, Mary Johnson and Willa Bronston, members of St. Benedict Parish, Dayton, Ohio, and Laura Rench will look at their successful opposition to a plan to reprocess hazardous military materials in their Jefferson Township neighborhood. Their efforts drew national attention.

The cost of the conference is $30 ($10 for students). Registration can be made online by following the directions in the brochure at www.catholiccincinnati.org/socialaction or by mail to Catholic Social Action, 266 Bainbridge St., Dayton, Ohio 45402. To receive a brochure or for more information, call the Catholic Social Action Office at 937-224-3026.

Pam Long
Regional Director, Catholic Social Action Office
266 Bainbridge St.
Dayton, Ohio 45402
plong@catholiccincinnati.org
937-224-3026 ext. 5018