Professor Richard W. Miller, PhD, will present a retreat titled, Authentic Hope in an Age of Crisis: Exploration in Pope Francis’s Encyclical Laudato Si’ at Saint Benedict Center, four miles north of Schuyler, on April 15 – 16, 2023. This retreat will focus on the virtue of hope in the face of what the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and other scientific bodies call a ‘human-induced emergency.’ We will reflect on Pope Francis’s Encyclical Laudato Si’ and practice centering prayer. There will be time for individual prayer and reflection, small group dialogue, and Mass on Sunday with the monks.
Richard W. Miller, PhD, is professor of philosophical and systematic theology and professor of sustainability studies at Creighton University. He is a contributor to and editor of seven books including God, Creation, and Climate Change: A Catholic Response to the Environmental Crisis (Orbis, 2010), which won a 2011 Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada book award in the faith and science category. He has been invited to speak around the world on the ecological crisis, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference (COP 22, 2016, Marrakech, Morocco) and the problem of God’s providence and human suffering. Dr. Miller has engaged political figures at the highest level in the United States, including a special assistant to President Obama, and the highest levels in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches. He was awarded (2020) the “Steward of God’s Creation” award from the National Religious Coalition on Creation Care. This award is bestowed annually on an individual who “exhibits courage and commitment in the keeping of the earth in a heroic, distinguished, and effective manner.”
The retreat begins on Saturday, at 9:30 a.m. and ends on Sunday after Lunch. The program fee is $60; room and board charges are additional.