As the world’s burgeoning population faces mounting challenges in economic opportunity, social justice and environmental sustainability, the growing global Catholic community will play a critical role in determining how that future takes shape.

To spotlight and further clarify recent teachings of the Catholic Church on these issues, DePaul University’s Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology (CWCIT) will hold a four-day series of seminars and celebrations from April 20 to 23 featuring many of the world’s top scholars and leaders.  Participants will include Cardinal Francis George, O.M.I., archbishop of Chicago and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Cardinal Peter K. A. Turkson of Ghana, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

“The Church is undergoing a tremendous demographic shift toward the Southern Hemisphere, or ‘Global South,’ a region that also faces the greatest challenges in development and sustainability,” said Peter Casarella, professor of Catholic studies and director of the CWCIT.  “This makes Catholic teaching on these matters all the more urgent.”

On April 21 and 22, a series of lectures and seminars will examine Pope Benedict XVI’s recent encyclical “Charity in Truth” and its emphasis on the Church’s commitment to social and economic justice, labeled in some quarters as “Popeonomics.”  DePaul’s president, the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., will welcome participants and George will offer opening remarks for the conference 9 a.m. April 21, followed by the keynote address to be delivered by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.  Turkson is scheduled to offer the Final Plenary at 2:45 p.m. on April 22.

Among the specific topics to be examined are the social ramifications of the excesses of unrestrained capitalism; the evolution of Catholic teaching on how economic advancement should benefit the entire human family; and the role of women in the economic lives of nations.

In conjunction with Earth Week, sessions on April 23 will examine contemporary Catholic teaching on environmental sustainability in a program titled “Integrity of Creation” which also will explore sustainability practices in Catholic higher education. Journalist John L. Allen, Jr., of the National Catholic Reporter, will begin the day’s activities at 9 a.m. with a talk on “the greening of Catholic thought and activism.” Follow up discussion panels will include environmental and policy experts who will address numerous issues on environmental sustainability including how DePaul’s curriculum is being transformed to prepare for a more sustainable future.

The conference kicks off April 20 with a series of programs and events celebrating the diversity of Catholic youth around the world.  The day’s activities will conclude with Mass at St. Vincent de Paul Church and a dinner for students with an international flair. 

Most of the symposium’s activity will take place at the DePaul Student Center, 2250 N. Sheffield Ave., Chicago.  A full itinerary of speakers and topics is available at http://worldcath2010.depaul.edu/Default.aspx .

DePaul’s CWCIT was established in 2007 to produce scholarship examining issues surrounding the Catholic Church’s shifting demographics away from Europe and North America and toward the Global South, including Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania.