Stewardship in Science: A Dialogue on Faith and Bioethics
Feb. 16-17, 2016
In Laudato Si, the 2015 encyclical on “Care for Our Common Home,” Pope Francis offers us the following as both encouragement and a call to action: “I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all.” Additionally, in his address to the Science and Life Association, Pope Francis reminds us that Christ is our light that illuminates the path for science, so that science is performed for the service of the world and not for the service of science itself.
In the Spring of 2016, St. Mary’s, in its inaugural Conference on Justice and Social Concerns, will offer a place for dialogue on the broad field of bioethics, which includes the areas of stem cell research, genetically modified organisms, animal ethics, socioeconomic concerns and accessibility to healthcare and climate change. Panel sessions with experts from these various fields will invite participants to consider the facts and moral obligations of these topics, and to reflect on how the field of bioethics affects our global community and the common good. What role do we play in shaping the future of our planet? How does our Catholic Social Teaching inform our perspective on these areas of bioethics? How can we, as a community of faith, respond to the needs of our times and be an active part of this vital and complex conversation; what voice do we, as individuals and collectively, lend?
Tuesday, Feb. 16
9:45-11 a.m.: Opening Plenary “Of microscopes, pearl earrings, and the quest to find God in all things.” Jozef Welie, Ph.D., Professor, Center for Health Policy and Ethics, Creighton University
11:10 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Stem Cells: Immoral or the Key to Immortality?
12:35-1:50 p.m.: GMOs: Poison or Promise?
Wednesday, Feb. 17
9:20-10:10 a.m.: Animal Research: A Necessary Sacrifice for the Greater Good?
10:20-11:10 a.m.: Rising Health Care Costs: The Price of Staying Alive
11:20 a.m.-12:10 p.m.: Art of Peace Award, Ceremony and Workshop
7 p.m.: Lin Great Speakers Series (Keynote)
Stephen Gardiner, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy and Ben Rabinowitz Endowed Professor of the Human Dimensions of the Environment at the University of Washington, Seattle