September 23, 2002
ETHICS LECTURE TO FOCUS ON FRANCISCAN RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
LA CROSSE, Wis.— Pollution. Rapid urbanization. Global warming. Deforestation. These are among the most critical environmental issues facing us today. As a society, not only are we responsible for creating these problems, but we have a responsibility before God to care for His gift of Creation. How can we find a way to protect the environment for future generations?
Join Richard Woods, a professor of theology at Dominican University, as he explores "Brother Earth: The Ethic of Franciscan Ecology," a free lecture from the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership on Monday, Oct. 7 in the Viterbo Fine Arts Center Recital Hall at 8 p.m.
"Brother Earth: The Ethic of Franciscan Ecology" is a special talk in celebration of the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. Fr. Woods will explore our ecological responsibility by examining the ethical approach developed by late Catholic economist E.F. Schumacher, in light of the Franciscan traditions of personal relatedness and intimate kinship.
Fr. Woods is a Dominican priest and associate professor of theology at Dominican University in River Forest, Ill. He is currently the president of the Board of Directors with the Center for Religion and Society and serves as the Center’s director of research. He has a doctorate degree in philosophy from Loyola University of Chicago and a master’s in theology and in philosophy from the Aquinas Institute of Philosophy. He is the author of The Spirituality of Celtic Saints (2000), Mysticism and Prophecy: The Dominican Tradition (1998), and Christian Spirituality: God’s Presence through the Ages (1989).
For more information, contact Richard Kyte, director of the Ethics Institute, at 608-796-3704, email ethics@viterbo.edu.