Hello friends! I hope this message finds you healthy and happy. I am back in South Bend after an exciting summer and wanted to share with you some updates:
To kick off the summer, I was honored to serve as the keynote speaker at the Contestations in Land and Agriculture Conference at Oxford in May. My lecture, “Who Owns the Land? Belonging, Spirituality, and the Practice of Integral Ecology” can be streamed here.
I then headed to Uganda, to assist in preparations for the BLI Public Launch. On July 29, in front of a crowd of over 1,400 people, we officially launched the institute. It was a joyous occasion with supporters flying in from around the world, including some of my colleagues from here at Notre Dame! The Archbishop of the Kampala Diocese, Paul Ssemogerere, was also in attendance along with a representative from the Prime Minister of Uganda’s office. I was overjoyed to see a gathering of so many people dedicated to living out Pope Francis’ call in Laudato Si’.
A highlight of the event included the commissioning of the first cohort of BLI caretakers. We commissioned a group of seven young men, one woman, and Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere to go out and care for God’s creation. This cohort was very special to BLI as they have been instrumental to the building of our program in many ways. Fortunately, the majority of them will be staying on with BLI as incubators, helping to teach the caretaker trainees following in their footsteps.
To hear more about the launch, you can watch our recorded webinar here, as attendees share about their experience:
You can also watch portions of the launch itself here:
I have also attached photos below that capture some of the great joy and love shared that day!
Now, I am back in South Bend. This year, I am on sabbatical, taking the year to further dive into and research the practice of Integral Ecology. I also will be officially launching my book, Who Are My People? (https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268202569/who-are-my-people/), which was released this past spring.
Also wanted to share this journal article, engaging Born From Lament: https://churchmissionsociety.org/anvil/lament-and-hope-cathy-ross-anvil-vol-34-issue-1/
With wishes for a beautiful Fall season.
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