Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’s encyclical on ecology, is the topic of an upcoming lecture at Creighton University.

The free public talk, marking the fourth anniversary of Laudato Si’, will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. June 27 in the Skutt Student Center Ballroom. It will open the inaugural gathering of “Laudato Si’ and the U.S. Catholic Church: A Conference Series on Our Common Home” sponsored by Creighton University and Catholic Climate Covenant. 

Keynote speakers include the the Rev. Robert W. McElroy, bishop of San Diego, and Megan Goodwin, associate director of government relations at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

The event will be moder­ated by Martha Shulski, director of the Nebraska State Climate Office and associate professor at the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Rev. George J. Lucas, archbishop of Omaha, and the Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, president of Creighton University, will provide opening remarks.

The speakers will address the importance of deeply integrat­ingLaudato Si’ into the U.S. Catholic community, consider opportunities and challenges to this work, and highlight how the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has incorporated the en­cyclical into its climate change advocacy.

The conference is the first of three biennial events to convene, equip, and inspire current and potential leaders who can more robustly implement Laudato Si’ and its climate change teach­ing into key U.S. Catholic min­istries: Adult Faith Formation, Advocacy, Creation Care Teams, Energy Management, Higher Education, Liturgy, School Education, and Young Adult Ministry.

– Creighton University