Nairobi-based Catholic University’s Moral Theology Department Realizes International Conference on Ecology

Nairobi-based Catholic University’s Moral Theology Department Realizes International Conference on Ecology

Nairobi-based Catholic University’s Moral Theology Department Realizes International Conference on Ecology

CANAA || By Father Don Bosco Onyalla, Nairobi || 22 February 2018

tangaza conference on integrity of creationAn international conference seeking to deliberate on ways theology could help resolve ecological challenges in view of contributing to a sustainable ecological future has been realized in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

The three-day conference, which kicked off Wednesday, February 21, has been spearheaded by the Moral Theology Department of Nairobi-based Tangaza University College, a constituent college of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA).

Scholars of international repute drawn from various institutions have been making presentations to dozens of participants made up of students, faculty, and members of the public, with all continents represented.

Wednesday morning sessions focused on scientific approaches to ecological crisis, with two speakers providing input, one from the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Kenya and another from the Kenya’s National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA).

The afternoon sessions were devoted to theological responses to ecological crisis, with input on Islam and the ecological crisis, rediscovering the human vocation in creation, and the biblical calling to environmental stewardship,

Thursday sessions focused on the African perspective of the ecological challenge, the inter-religious dimension of environmental care, and the role of law in socio-economic and political regulations.

Bishop Emmanuel Kofi Fiani of the diocese of Ho in Ghana has graced the conference, having presided over the opening of the conference with prayer. On Thursday, Bishop Fianu made a presentation on the response of the Church in Ghana to Laudato Si’, focusing on “God as mother and the human person as co-creator – biblical hermeneutical reflections on the role of the human person as agent of the integrity of creation.”

The various presentations scheduled for the last day of the conference on Friday are expected to guide participants in deliberating on ways of responding to the ecological challenge in an effective and practical manner.

Titled “International Theological Conference on Integrity of Creation,” the overall theme of the conference is, “Ecological Crises: The Sin of Our Times – A Quest for Global, Theologico-Ecological Response.”

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