Faith and the Environment: Questions and ChallengesA Catholic Conference on Environmental Issues

August 17 -19, 2009St. Malo Retreat & Conference Center

Allenspark, CO

Mission Statement:

The conference Faith and the Environment: Questions and Challenges, invites professionals and experts from different fields and faiths to discuss the questions and challenges of the

environmental crisis of our time and to reflect on how the Catholic Church and society should respond to this common responsibility.

Schedule

Monday, Aug 17th 4:00 P.M. Conference Registration

5:00 P.M. Exploring the wonder of nature:Interpretive (short) hike on the John Paul II trail into Rocky Mountain National Park

6:00 P.M. Dinner

7:15 P.M. Keynote PresentationThe Church and Reconciliation with Creation

Keynote Speaker: Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput,

O.F.M. Cap. Archbishop of Denver

8:00 P.M. Discussion

9:00 P.M. Social

Tuesday, Aug 18th 7:15 A.M. Mass

8:00 A.M. Breakfast

9:00 A.M. Panel #1: Diagnosis of the situation: the Church and the environment Panelists: Alejandro Bermudez, Bernard Amadei

10:15 A.M. BREAK

10:30 A.M. Panel #2: Theological and philosophical questions and challenges Panelists: Chris Blum, Ben Hale, Miguel Salazar

12:15 P.M. Lunch

3:15 P.M. Keynote PresentationHoliness and the Environment

Keynote Speaker: Eduardo Regal

4:30 P.M. BREAK

4:45 P.M. Panel #3: Culture, Law and Anthropology Panelists: Chris Shannon, Lakshman Guruswamy, Aldo Giachetti

6:30 P.M. Dinner

8:00 P.M. Social

Wednesday, Aug 19th 7:15 A.M. Mass

8:00 A.M. Breakfast

9:00 A.M Keynote PresentationEnvironment, ethics and religions.

Keynote Speaker: Pablo Martinez de Anguita

10:15 A.M. Break

10:30 A.M. Panel #5: New paths, new methods Panelists: Tom Collingwood, Dave Newport, Ricardo Simmonds

12:30 P.M. Closing Remarks by José Ambrozic, Creatio President

12:45 P.M. Lunch

Speakers

Bernard AmadeiDr. Amadei is Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He

received his PhD in 1982 from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Amadei is the

Faculty Director of the Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities

at CU Boulder and holds the Mortenson Endowed Chair in Global Engineering. He is also

the Founding President of Engineers Without Borders - USA and the co-founder of the

Engineers Without Borders-International network. Among other distinctions, Dr. Amadei

is the 2007 co-recipient of the Heinz Award for the Environment, the recipient of the

2008 ENR Award of Excellence, and an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

José AmbrozicJosé A. Ambrozic was born in Lima, Perú and is Consecrated layman, member of the

Sodalitium Christianae Vitae - SCV, since 1972. He has a License in Business Administration

and Masters Degree in Education. He has been Assistant General of SCV for Apostolate,

Temporal Affairs and Communications. Currently he is the Superior of the SCV community

in Denver, Director of Saint Malo Catholic Retreat, Conference and Spiritual Center,

Chairman of the Board of San Pablo Catholic University and President of Creatio.

Alejandro BermudezMr. Bermudez is the Director of both the Catholic News Agency and ACI Prensa. He earned an Undergraduate

Degree in Philosophy at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Lima in 1979, then went on to earn a Masters in

Communication Sciences at the University of Lima in 1982. His professional background

includes various journalism roles, Professor of Social Doctrine of the Church and Sociology

of Religion at the Champagnat Catholic University in Lima, Host of the daily radio program

“Criterios” on EWTN as well as weekly commentating for the “EWTN Noticias.” His journalistic

responsibilities have taken him all over Latin America, the United States, and Europe.

Publications include such works as “El Futuoro de la Comunicación Social en la Iglesia” (The

Future of Social Communication in the Church) and “Catholic Social Communications in

Latin America.” Mr. Bermudez has received several awards during his dynamic career, including: the “Media in

your Continent Award,” the “North-South Friendship Award”, and the “International Media Award.”

Christopher Blum Dr. Chris Blum is a Professor of Humanities at the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts

in Merrimack, New Hampshire. He has a PhD in History and Philosophy of Science and

European History from Notre Dame and is a National Science Graduate Foundation Fellow.

He has also been Chairman and Professor of the Histroy Department at Christendom

College, and his publications include two books and several essasys. His interests and

teaching experience range from Western Civilization History, Medieval Art and Culture, the

Enlightenment and French Revolution and many of Euclid’s books. Dr. Blum is also married

to Kathleen B. Doran since 1993 and has two children.

Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.Archbishop Charles J. Chaput was born September 26, 1944, in Concordia, Kansas,

the son of Joseph and Marian DeMarais Chaput. He joined the Order of Friars Minor

Capuchin, St. Augustine Province, in 1965, and was ordained to the priesthood on August

29, 1970. In 1977, Archbishop Chaput became pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Thornton,

Colorado, and vicar provincial for the Capuchin Province of Mid-America. He was named

secretary and treasurer for the province in 1980, and he became chief executive and

provincial minister three years later. Archbishop Chaput was ordained Bishop of Rapid

City, South Dakota, on July 26, 1988. Pope John Paul II appointed him Archbishop of Denver on February 18,

1997. As member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe, Archbishop Chaput is the second Native American to

be ordained bishop in the United States, and the first Native American archbishop.

Tom CollingwoodTom Collingwood Ph.D. is a nationally recognized leader in the field of physical fitness,

sports medicine and outdoor education. As a former YMCA Director and Director of

Continuing Education for the world renown Kenneth Cooper Aerobics Research Center

he has instituted hundreds of physical fitness and outdoor education programs for

employee groups and youths worldwide. Dr. Collingwood has instituted numerous

environmental education service projects while serving as a Master Naturalist with the

Texas Parks and Wildlife, as a volunteer Interpretive Ranger at Rocky Mountain National

Park in Colorado, and as an Interpretive Hikemaster for the YMCA of the Rockies. Most recently, he has

developed and implemented a unique environmental project titled “Eco-Fit” that integrates environmental

stewardship habits and physical activity.

He has served in many leadership capacities for the Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and

is the recipient of the Healthy American Fitness Leader award as one of the 10 outstanding physical fitness

leaders in the nation. He is the author of eight books and over 100 publications in the field.

Aldo GiacchettiAldo Giacchetti has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and is a Doctoral Candidate in

Philosophy at the “Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina”. He is a founding Member of

the “Universidad Católica San Pablo” in Arequipa, Peru. Now also the Director of the “Center

of Studies for the Person and the Culture” and Director of the Journal “Person and Culture”

of the “Universidad Católica San Pablo”. He is professor of Philosophical Anthropology at the

same University. He has published several articles on the philosophical thinking of Romano

Guardini. Currently he is investigating the thinking of Spanish philosopher Julian Marias on

the subject of the human person.

Lakshman GuruswamyDr. Lakshman Guruswamy is the Nicholas Doman Professor of International Environmental

Law at the University of Colorado Law School. Born in Sri Lanka, Guruswamy is one of the

world’s recognized experts in International Environmental Law and is widely published in

both legal and scientific journals. Guruswamy was among twenty distinguished speakers

specially chosen by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to speak at the symposium

celebrating the 50th anniversary of the ICJ. Guruswamy is also the Director of the Center for

Energy and Environmental Security (CEES). This is an ambitious interdisciplinary project that

seeks to find renewable energy solutions for the energy deficits confronting not only the United States, but,

more particularly, the developing countries of the world.

Benjamin HaleDr. Benjamin Hale is assistant professor in the Philosophy Department and the

Environmental Studies Program at CU Boulder. From 2006-2008 he was Director of the

Center for Values and Social Policy, which is situated in the Philosophy Department.

Currently, he maintains close affiliations not only with CVSP, but also with the Center

for Science and Technology Policy Research, located under CIRES, the Cooperative

Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. His primary area of research focus is

environmental ethics, though he maintains active interests in a wide range of ethical

topics. He comes to Colorado from New York University, where he was Interim Director of the Environmental

Studies Program and Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Philosophy. Over the years, he has also

taught environmental policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, as well as

philosophy at Hofstra University and Stony Brook University.

Pablo Martínez de Anguita d´HuartDr. Martinez is currently a Professor of Sustainable Rural Development and Project

Management at the University Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain. He earned his Ph.D. in

Forestry Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He has also taught at the

Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (2006-07) and served at the United

Nations University for Peace (San José, Costa Rica) and the United Nations Forum on

Forestry (UNFF) as a Spanish Expert at the UNFF Process since 2002. He is also the

author of several books and scholarly articles, and author of more than 40 forestry and

environmental projects as a consultant, of which the creation of the Parque de la Paz “Padre Fabretto” is

his most notable contribution, settling an agreement between presidents of Honduras and Nicaragua to

create a Multinational Park. Along with forestry, Dr. Martinez’ interests include the spiritual dimensions of the

environment, which were sparked during his studies of “ecotheology” in Harvard and through studying Don

Luigi Giussani led him back to living his Catholic faith.

Dave Newport Dave Newport is Director of the Environmental Center at the University of Colorado

at Boulder —the nation’s first, largest, and most accomplished center of its kind. Dave

is also a faculty associate in the Environmental Studies department where he teaches

Carbon Neutrality Planning and also Chairs the university’s Carbon Neutrality Working

Group.Dave is Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Association for the Advancement

of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), and co-creator of AASHE’s forthcoming

campus Sustainability Tracking And Ratings System (STARS). Previously, Dave was

elected Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners in Gainesville, Florida where he led that county to

award-winning sustainability achievements in land use, energy and climate, and social equity. Dave began

his career in 1976 performing environmental research for the paper industry and the EPA. He went on to

teach college-level environmental analytical methods, and then founded and managed an award-winning

environmental publishing company for 13 years. Dave’s background is in Energy Resource Management and

Policy, Management and Communications, and Environmental Science Technology (Maryland, Syracuse, Santa

Fe College, respectively). Three years ago, Dave and his family happily transitioned from the Florida heat and

hurricanes to the Colorado high country and high snow—but he will always be a Gator!

Eduardo RegalMr. Regal is the Coordinator General of the Christian Life Movement, an ecclesial

movement in the Catholic Church with more than 45,000 members, and the Vicar

General of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae. He is also a spiritual director and a

member of the advisory board of the Episcopal Commission on Lay Apostolate of the

Peruvian Conference of Bishops. Mr. Regal studied Electrical Engineering at Ricardo

Palma University and Business Administration at the Peruvian Institute of Business

Administration. He currently is the Director of BEC, the Christian Electronic Library which

has the greatest number of Catholic texts in Spanish in the world, and of VE Multimedios, which provides

internet services for the Church’s New Evangelization. He is also a member of the advisory board of San Pablo

University in Arequipa, Peru and of Universidad Juan Pablo II in Costa Rica.

Miguel SalazarMr. Salazar is a theologian, studying at the Gregorian University in Rome, where he is

pursuing a PhD. He is a Consecrated layman, member of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.

He was the Superior of the formation center for 10 years, and since 2001 is the Regional

Superior in Colombia. He has taught theology in Marcelino Champagnat University in Lima,

and was an official in the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Editorial Secretary of

“Vida y Espiritualidad” Review. He is the author of “Human Person and Reconciliation” and

of articles in several articles in different reviews in Latin America. He has given talks in Peru,

Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, the United States and Italy. He is currently investigating the subject of Faith

and Reason in the writings of Edith Stein.

Christopher ShannonChristopher Shannon is an Associate Professor of History at Christendom College in

Front Royal, Virginia, where he teaches courses in Western Civilization, U. S. History

and Historiography. He is an intellectual historian whose scholarly work has focused

on the rise of social science as the language of public reason in twentieth-century

America. His first two books, Conspicuous Criticism (1996) and A World Made Safe

for Differences (2001), examine the rise of the anthropological notion of culture as a

secular substitute for a pre-modern, Catholic notion of tradition. In these works, he

draws on the philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre to argue that cultural consciousness, initially invoked as

A healing antidote to the acids of modernity, ultimately served only to further undermine community by

extending instrumental social relations into the most intimate aspects of private life. His current research

project, “The Politics of Guadalupe,” explores the relation between faith and culture in contemporary

Mexican-American politics.

Ricardo SimmondsMr. Simmonds is currently pursuing his MS in Environmental Studies with a focus in

philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Born in Brazil, Ricardo founded

the non-profit Creatio in Peru where he lived for 4 years while undergoing his religious

formation. He has wide experience with volunteer work and missions in the shanty

towns and remote highlands of Latin America, and working with the poor in general. He

has led several mission trips into the Peruvian high Andes offering spiritual, humanitarian

and environmental assistance to the poorest of the poor. Living for 3 years in Colorado,

he is currently the Director of Creatio. He is also a member of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae and a spiritual

director, supporting the work of St. Malo Retreat Center.