The University of Notre Dame is hosting Cardinal Pedro Barreto of Peru and Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana April 25.
As part of the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum, the cardinals will participate in a conversation with Notre Dame President Robert Dowd.
The event is entitled 10 Years After Laudato si’: Faith, Anthropocene and Justice in the Global South. It reflects on Pope Francis’ care for our common home.
In recent years, Pope Francis has discussed concern about the impact of human activities on the Earth and climate. Earth system scientists have described it as a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene.
Cardinal Barreto and Cardinal Turkson will speak about the impact of climate change on communities in the Global South. They will share how those communities are developing strategies for resilience. They will discuss how the Anthropocene epoch affects the way people think about justice, the planet and the church.
Cardinal Barreto, the archbishop emeritus of Huancayo, Peru, currently serves as president of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon. He was named a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2018. Ordained in 1971, Cardinal Barreto has dedicated his life to pastoral care, promotion of ecology and protection of Indigenous communities.
Cardinal Turkson has served as the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences since 2022. Pope John Paul II made him the first cardinal archbishop of Ghana in 2003. Cardinal Turkson is a champion of human rights and sustainable human development. He has served as a religious peacebuilder in numerous politically volatile situations on the African continent.
The event will take place at 11:30 a.m. April 25 in the Smith Ballroom of the Morris Inn in South Bend. The conversation is open to the public. The university will livestream the event for both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking audiences.
