On July 22th -24th, 2013, as an official cultural event of the World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Creatio sponsored the Conference: Jesus and Nature: Catholic Perspectives on Environmental Issues. This event brought together scientists, professors, theologians, a farmer, priest and Cardinal to share ideas about the role of  Church in facing current environmental issues, like climate change, food security, consumerism and others.

The main items covered during the days of the event were: Reconciliation Theology, Environmental Challenges of our Times and Catholic Perspectives about the Environment. Likewise, in those days, participants had the opportunity to enjoy the unique and wonderful city of Rio de Janeiro, which integrates nature and faith, especially during the WYD 2013 with the Pope.

Below you can find the most remarkable moments of the conference hosted by Creatio and you can learn more about our special guests.

His Eminence Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson was born 11 October 1948 in the Western region of Ghana, Africa. On 20 July 1975, Peter Turkson was ordained to the priesthood in Cape Coast, Ghana. He was ordained and installed as the Archbishop of Cape Coast, on 27 March 1993. On 28 September 2003, Pope John Paul II named him to the Sacred College of Cardinals, and he was created a Cardinal in the public Consistory of 21 October 2003 at the Vatican.

He studied at St. Teresa’s Seminary in Amisano, the regional Seminary of St. Peter in Pedu and at St. Anthony’s on Hudson, in Rensselaer, NY. Five years later, he was assigned to study at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, first for a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture (1976—1980); and again in 1987, to complete a doctorate in Sacred Scripture. He served on the faculty of two seminaries and as part-time Lecturer at the Department of Religious Studies at UCC, Cape Coast (1981-1987), and as visiting Lecturer at the Catholic Major Seminary of Anyama, Côte d’Ivoire (1983—1986).

As the Archbishop of Cape Coast, His Eminence was President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (1997—2004); Chancellor of theCatholic University of Ghana; and an appointed member of several institutions of the Roman Curia. Cardinal Turkson was the Vice President of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa (AECAWA) from 2004; and when AECAWA merged with its Francophone counterpart (CERAO), he served as its first President from 2007 to date. He also serves as the Honorary President of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP), and is a member of the Association of Ghana Biblical Exegetes.

On 24 October 2009, Pope Benedict XVI named his as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

José A. Ambrozic, born in Lima, Perú, is a consecrated layman, member of the Catholic Society of Apostolic Life Sodalitium Christianae Vitae – SCV http://sodalitium.com, since 1972. He has a License in Business Administration, a Master Degree in Education and is pursuing a PhD on Catholic Human Ecology. Has been Assistant General of SCV for Apostolate and Temporal Affairs and is currently Assistant General of SCV for Communications. He has served as Superior of the SCV community in Denver, Director of Camp Saint Malo Retreat Center, and Chairman of the Board of San Pablo Catholic University www.ucsp.edu.pe. He is President of Creatio, a non profit that promotes reconciliation between humans and creation as a response to environmental issues www.creatio.org.

Tom Collingwood, Ph.D. is a nationally recognized leader in the field of physical fitness and outdoor education. As a former YMCA and Education Director for the world renown Kenneth Cooper Aerobics Research Center he has instituted hundreds of physical fitness and outdoor education programs for employee groups and at-risk youths worldwide. Dr. Collingwood has instituted numerous environmental education service projects while as a Master Naturalist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife, as a volunteer Interpretive Ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, and as a Hikemaster for the YMCA of the Rockies. He currently provides lectures, seminars and retreats that teach stewardship of the environment and the body (exercise and fitness) through the CREATIO faith based stewardship organization affiliated with the Christian Life Movement.

He has served in many leadership capacities for the Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and is the recipient of the Healthy American Fitness Leader award as one of the 10 outstanding physical fitness leaders in the nation. He is the author of 10 books.

Sophie Caldecott is a Marketing Officer for Oxford HR Consultants, and also works for her parents’ business, Second Spring Oxford. She studied English at Durham University and went on to write a Masters dissertation in London on ethical consumerism. Sophie is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Catholic Herald,Darling Magazine, Verily and other publications.

Sophie’s father Stratford studied Philosophy and Psychology at Oxford University and was a Research Fellow at St Benet’s Hall, Oxford. He was a senior editor at Routledge, HarperCollins, T&T Clark, Sophia Institute Press, and was with the Catholic Truth Society in London. He was also the editor of the online journal Humanum (www.humanumreview.com) for the Pope John Paul II Institute in Washington, DC, and with his wife Léonie edited the journal Second Spring and the UK/Irish edition of Magnificat. He spoke frequently at conferences, taught at a number of colleges, and has written and published widely on Christian apologetics, theology, and culture. He was the author ofThe Radiance of Being, Beauty for Truth’s Sake, and The Power of the Ring (about the spiritual meaning of The Lord of the Rings), as well as books on the sacraments, Scripture, and Catholic Social Teaching.

Duarte Costa joined the University of Exeter in August 2012 as the project manager of the PULSE-Brazil project. PULSE is an international research exchange initiative between the UK and Brazil which aims at the development of a climate impact tool, designed for supporting decision-makers on climate adaptation policies in Brazil. PULSE-Brazil is a NERC-funded project and Professor Peter Cox is the Principal Investigator Previously, Duarte collaborated as a climate change assistant in the production of the Think PINC report[i], an investment-based plan to make a transition to a green economy in Brazil. His academic training is as a geographer having earned an MSc in Climate Change and Policy at the University of Sussex. His research focused on the Amazonian drought and the ability of climate models to realistically both reproduce its pattern and drivers and predict changes in future climate.

The core interest of Duarte is the interface of climate science with the policy and business sectors. Particularly he is interested in the applicability ofEarth-System model predictions to effectively inform decisions on climate adaptation and risk management.

Elias Crim has worked in book and magazine publishing for over twenty years and is currently the publisher and managing editor of the webzine, Solidarity Hall (www.solidarityhall.org), a publication aimed at rediscovering the sources of community and tradition from a personalist viewpoint. Elias studied classics and comparative literature at the University of Texas and at the University of California-Berkeley, where he did graduate work toward a PhD.

In his business life, Elias has worked for the Chicago Board of Trade, Accenture, and a dot-com startup in Seattle. He has contributed articles to the American Scholar, the American Conservative, Washington Monthly and the Chicago Times, and he is the co-author of Character Education That Works, a virtue-based approach to after-school programs. He was a founding board member of the Lumen Christi Institute at the University of Chicago. He has taught classics and humanities at UT-Austin, UC-Berkeley and the Newberry Library (Chicago). He lives in Valparaiso, IN with three teenage daughters.

Dr. Jose Duarte has a PhD in Zoology from UERJ (Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro). His doctoral studies were conducted in UERJ’s Zoology Laboratory for Vertebrates, and his research focused on reptiles. His post-graduate work is conducted at the Catholic University of Petropolis, RJ, Brasil.

Dr. Duarte joine the Christian Life Movement in Petropolis in 2008, and he participated in the III plenary Assembly of the CLM in Guayaquil, Ecuador in 2009. He participates in different CLM activities in Petropolis, and is a dedicated instructor of adult Catechesis.

Dr. García was born in Peru, on October 12th, 1962. He has a PhD in Philosophy and is dedicated to reflection on the philosophy of culture, anthropological philosophy and ethics. He is currently a Consultor for he Pontifical Council of Culture and professor at the Center for Studies of the Person and Culture at the Catholic University of San Pablo (UCSP) in Arequipa, Peru.

Previously, at the Catholic University of Petropolis (Brazil), he held the position of Director of the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences, as well as vice Academic Dean. He was also the Director of Research at the Pontifical and Civil Faculty of Lima and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and President of the Organizing Committee of the University of Science and Art of Latin America, the Committee of Faith and Culture of the Archdiocese of Lima, and Consultor for the Pontifical Council for Dialogue with Non Believers.

Among his many articles and books, is “Faith and culture in Latin American thought” (“La fe y la cultura en el pensamiento católico latinoamericano”), with a forward from the then President of the Ponticial Council of Culture, Cardinal Paul Poupard.

Fr. Carlos F. Keen was born in Madrid, Spain and is a member of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae – SCV, since 1994. He has a bachelor degree in Theology, from the Pontifical and Civil University of Theology in Lima. For 8 years he worked as a formator at the Sodalit formation center in San Bartolo, Peru and as Chaplain of two solidarity centers at the south of Lima. Currently he is the chaplain of Santa María School in Chincha, Peru.

Dr. Martinez is currently a Professor of Sustainable Rural Development and Project Management at the University Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain. He earned his Ph.D. in Forestry Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He has also taught at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (2006-07) and served at the United Nations University for Peace (San José, Costa Rica) and the United Nations Forum on Forestry (UNFF) as a Spanish Expert at the UNFF Process since 2002.

Pablo is also the author of several books and scholarly articles, and author of more than 40 forestry and environmental projects as a consultant, of which the creation of the Parque de la Paz “Padre Fabretto” is his most notable contribution, settling an agreement between presidents of Honduras and Nicaragua to create a Multinational Park.

Along with forestry, Dr. Martinez’ interests include the spiritual dimensions of the environment which were sparked during his studies of “ecotheology” in Harvard and through studying Don Luigi Giussani led him back to living his Catholic faith.

Mr. Simmonds was born in São Paulo, Brazil. He has a Master of Science degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his studies focus on philosophy, theology and environmental issues. He has presented at several conferences and published one book, “Truth and Climate Change: Pragmatist Truth Confronted by Habermas and Ratzinger in the Context of Climate Change”. Ricardo is also a member of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae and a spiritual director. In Peru, he founded the non-profit Creatio while undergoing his religious formation. He has wide experience with volunteer work and missions in the shantytowns and remote highlands of Latin America, offering humanitarian, environmental and spiritual assistance to the poorest of the poor. Ricardo lives in Denver, Colorado and is the Director of Creatio.

Christopher Shannon is currently an associate professor of history at Christendom College. He received his Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University and, prior to coming to Christendom in 2004, held teaching positions at the University of Iowa, Yale University and St. Mary’s College. In addition, from 1999 to 2002, he served as assistant director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of two books, Conspicuous Criticism (1996) and A World Made Safe for Differences (2001), which recast the story of modern American intellectual history in terms of an enduring struggle to make a place for tradition within the boundaries of liberal modernity; more specifically, these books argue that the modern idea of “culture” has in many ways served as a secular substitute for a pre-modern, Catholic understanding of tradition. Today’s talk is based on research he is conducting as part of a scholarly initiative, Religion and Innovation in Human Affairs, sponsored by the Historical Society. Shannon’s project, “The Salvation of the Nations: Catholic Modernity in an Age of Confessional Liberalism,” will explore the development of a twentieth-century Catholic intellectual tradition capable of affirming historical and cultural relativity without succumbing to historical and cultural relativism.

Mary Gerardi Taylor is a Consulting Editor for the journal Communio, founded by Joseph Ratzinger, Henri de Lubac and Hans Urs von Balthasar. She did graduate work in philosophy and theology at Yale University and wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on the metaphysics of creation for the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. She has published papers in Second Spring: International Journal of Faith and Culture and Communio, and contributed a chapter on Creation and Ecology to the forthcoming book in honor of Stratford Caldecott, The Beauty of God’s House. She has presented on many occasions, among them World Youth Day in Madrid; the What is Life? Theology, Science, and Philosophy Conference in Krakow; the Soul Conference in Oxford; and was a featured speaker at the Yale Human Rights and Environment Dialogues  Symposium. She taught philosophy and theology for many years.

Mary and her husband run Pax in Terra, a nonprofit dedicated to promotion of human dignity through the development of sustainable communities. The Taylors have a small farm where they raise organic vegetables. She has three children; her son Michael is studying at the Gregorian to be a priest for the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.

Since 2011, Tebaldo has served as an official of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace where he is responsible for Sustainable Development and Environmental issues.

His main preceding appointments are a research contract on natural disasters within the Military Center for Strategic Studies of the Italian Ministry of Defense (2008-2009) and a mission with the catholic NGO Fidesco as project manager for the Archdiocese of Lima, Peru (2008-2010). His other professional experiences include short works with the French diplomacy, the French Ministry of Defense, the United Nations and a French catholic-social NGO. During his career, Tebaldo had different responsibilities related to: project management or design, team coordination, fundraising, communication, reporting, research and analysis.

In 2007 he completed a Master degree in Political Science from the Institute of Political Studies of Bordeaux, France, and another one from the Faculty of Political Science of Turin, Italy. His preferred subjects are History, Development Cooperation, Military and Environmental issues. Tebaldo has been active in boy-scout groups during 17 years. He is married to Diane and they have two children.

Andre Houssney is the owner of Jacob Springs Farm in Boulder, CO and a Young Colorado Farmer.  André and his wife Vanee started Jacob Springs Farm in 2010. Andre has worked on farms in NY, IL, CA and Boulder as well as overseas in France, Lebanon and Zambia. Jacob Springs is a diversified, beyond organic, local farm just minutes from Boulder. They specialize in grass fed proteins; lamb, duck, chicken, goose and eggs as well as succulent fruits, herbs and vegetables. Their philosophy: