The theme “Everything Is Connected” framed the dialogue of an April 28 panel discussion at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. that explored how Catholic social teaching themes found in both Laudato Si’ and Teilhard de Chardin’s work offer a moral framework for addressing the ecological crises of our time and foster a deeper sense of solidarity with all of creation. The panel of four included Frank Frost, who wrote and directed the documentary, TEILHARD: Visionary Scientist, which was produced in collaboration with his wife, Mary. The event was co-sponsored by Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.
Speaking of the film, Frank described it as a “human story of a very complex person,” and noted that the audience for the film – like the audience that Pope Francis called to Laudato Si’ – is the whole world. The moderator for the discussion, Kim Daniels, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life and member of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, asked Frank to speak to a particular line in the film – “Teilhard bridges theology and science.” As part of his response, he pointed to an inscription under the arch of the hall in which the discussion took place – a line that ends the documentary: “The age of nations is past. It remains for us now, if we are not to perish, to set aside the ancient prejudices and to build the earth.” “That,” he added, “says a lot of what Laudato Si’ is saying too.”
View the entire panel discussion at this link. Read more about it on the Georgetown University website, as well as in this article in Today’s American Catholic.
