The Pope’s Revolution: The Implications of Laudato Si
MEDIA RELEASE:
Paper: Dr Patricia Hindmarsh
Read the paper here
Paper: Dr Paul Collins
Read the paper here
Resources
A number of resources were mentioned during the discussion. Available links have been included here.
OBJECTIVE
Laudato si’ is a revolutionary document, perhaps the most radical ever issued by any pope. It is not only Francis taking science seriously, but it is his emphasis on bio-centrism and our human connection to nature and the world that is most revolutionary. He casts anthropocentrism in a negative light and encourages us to recover the fact that we are part of the natural world, not separate from it.
Collins will tease out the implications of this for theology and spirituality and discuss his appeal to the Christian mystics and his interesting rejection of technology as a panacea for our environmental ills.
Hindmarsh will outline the Pope's call to ecological conversion and action and how this is or is not being responded to at local and national levels. She says a strength of the encyclical is its emphasis on 'Integral Ecology' as an umbrella term for all aspects of ecological responsibility, and therefore that the 'women' question needs to be seen as an integral aspect of the 'Social ecology' the Pope is so committed to, women being the ones who suffer the most through the poverty that results from environmental degradation.
FLYER
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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83643053347?pwd=SlhSVktiOWc5bDBUUTBnN3lPb3hjdz09
SPEAKERS
Dr Paul Collins
Historian, broadcaster, writer
Paul Collins is an historian, broadcaster and writer. A Catholic priest for thirty-three years, he resigned from the active ministry in 2001 following a dispute with the Vatican over his book Papal Power (1997). He is the author of fifteen books. The most recent is Absolute Power. How the pope became the most influential man in the world (Public Affairs, 2018). A former head of the religion and ethics department in the ABC, he is well known as a commentator on Catholicism and the papacy and also has a strong interest in ethics, environmental and population issues. www.paulcollinscatholicwriter.com.au
Dr Patricia Hindmarsh
Justice, peace and ecology advocate
Trish Hindmarsh is a retired teacher and educational leader who worked in Catholic Education in Victoria, NSW, WA and Tasmania. Trish has a lively interest in justice, peace and ecology and is a member of the Catholic Earthcare Australia Advisory Committee. Her doctoral studies relate to education for sustainability within Catholic school settings. Trish continues to be active in Catholic education, in mentoring and staff formation, theology and educational leadership.
Forum Chair
Andrea Dean
Chair WATAC (Women and the Australian Church)