National Farmers Union to participate in farm event on papal climate change encyclical
June 18, 2015 |12:13 AM
Several presidents of state chapters of the National Farmers Union will participate next week in a symposium in Milan, Italy, that will focus on Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment and how it relates to contemporary challenges in agriculture and food production, NFU announced Wednesday.
The pope’s encyclical on climate is scheduled to be made public today, but a leaked draft has already proved controversial and been criticized by conservatives, The Washington Post reported.
The Faith, Agriculture, Food and the Environment symposium, will take place in from June 27-28.
Doug Peterson, the president of Farmers Union Enterprises and the Minnesota Farmers Union, is a featured speaker at the symposium.
He will be joined by Wisconsin Farmers Union President Darin Von Ruden, North Dakota Farmers Union President Mark Watne, Montana Farmers Union President Alan Merrill and Jim Ennis, the executive director of Catholic Rural Life, a 91-year-old St. Paul-based nonprofit dedicated to articulating the moral dimensions of agriculture and food production.
“This symposium comes on the heels of the publication of Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment, and will be one of the first opportunities for farm leaders, theologians and academic experts from around the world to gather and discuss how to apply the key themes of the letter to agriculture,” Ennis said in a news release.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, the president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and a key architect of the pope’s encyclical, will begin the event by providing a faith-based perspective — rooted in Francis’ teaching — on the moral dimensions of farming.
A number of international agricultural groups will also play prominent roles, including the World Farmers Organization, which will meet in Milan immediately preceding the symposium, the International Catholic Rural Association, Coldiretti (Italy), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The Milan symposium is part of a broader Vatican initiative called The Vocation of the Agricultural Leader, which aims to provide leaders in the farming and food industries with practical, faith-based principles that can be applied to their daily work.
The June event was preceded by a national symposium, which was held in November 2014 in St. Paul.
The project is co-sponsored by several organizations from the faith, academic and agricultural sectors, including:
The pope’s encyclical on climate is scheduled to be made public today, but a leaked draft has already proved controversial and been criticized by conservatives, The Washington Post reported.
The Faith, Agriculture, Food and the Environment symposium, will take place in from June 27-28.
Doug Peterson, the president of Farmers Union Enterprises and the Minnesota Farmers Union, is a featured speaker at the symposium.
He will be joined by Wisconsin Farmers Union President Darin Von Ruden, North Dakota Farmers Union President Mark Watne, Montana Farmers Union President Alan Merrill and Jim Ennis, the executive director of Catholic Rural Life, a 91-year-old St. Paul-based nonprofit dedicated to articulating the moral dimensions of agriculture and food production.
“This symposium comes on the heels of the publication of Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment, and will be one of the first opportunities for farm leaders, theologians and academic experts from around the world to gather and discuss how to apply the key themes of the letter to agriculture,” Ennis said in a news release.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, the president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and a key architect of the pope’s encyclical, will begin the event by providing a faith-based perspective — rooted in Francis’ teaching — on the moral dimensions of farming.
A number of international agricultural groups will also play prominent roles, including the World Farmers Organization, which will meet in Milan immediately preceding the symposium, the International Catholic Rural Association, Coldiretti (Italy), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The Milan symposium is part of a broader Vatican initiative called The Vocation of the Agricultural Leader, which aims to provide leaders in the farming and food industries with practical, faith-based principles that can be applied to their daily work.
The June event was preceded by a national symposium, which was held in November 2014 in St. Paul.
The project is co-sponsored by several organizations from the faith, academic and agricultural sectors, including:
- Farmers Union Enterprises (which consists of Minnesota Farmers Union, Wisconsin Farmers Union, North Dakota Farmers Union, Montana Farmers Union and South Dakota Farmers Union)
- The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity
- Catholic Rural Life
- University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)
- Center for Catholic Studies at St. Thomas
- International Catholic Rural Association
- Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
