Reflections on ecology as science and on ecological crisis as experience, recently amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, arrive at the conclusion that “everything is interconnected”. This statement from Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, Laudato si’, is a good way of relating to the fundamental fact of relationships of interdependence between everything that exists on earth. Likewise, the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Together towards Life states that “it is vital…to affirm all life, the whole oikoumene, as being interconnected in God’s web of life”. The 2020 theme of the WCC Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace of “Caring for People, Water, and Earth” is characterized by these relationships of interconnections.

Being in relationship has numerous theological resonances such as Trinitarian theology, theology of covenant, biblical notions of socio-economic and ecological justice, among others. In other words, Christian life is entirely about relationships with interconnected aspects of life.

Against this background, the subject conference jointly convened by the Ecumenical and Francophone Seminar on the Theology of Ecology (SOFTE) and the WCC aims to address questions such as: How are ecological relationships shaping Christian theological thinking and vice versa in current times? How can Christian theology and spirituality embrace ecological relationships? And as human ascendancy over nature poses threats to the future of our planet, what are the implications for Christian theological reflection and action?

The conference will consider these issues under four modalities:

1 - the meaning of ecological relationship in theology

2 - the biblical covenant revisited by ecotheology

3 - the question of beatitude with the theme of humility and the meek inheriting the earth

4 - the new model of economic relationships through the gospel of Jesus Christ chasing the merchants from the temple of Jerusalem

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Virtual conference exclusively - Free participation

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Proceedings in French and English will be published afterward.

Speakers

Louk ANDRIANOS, WCC/COE, Crete, Greece

Isabel APAWO PHIRI, WCC/COE, Geneva, Switzerland

Caroline BAUER, SOFTE /Institut Théologique d’Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France

Dominique COATANEA, SOFTE/Centre Sèvres, Paris, France

François EUVÉ sj, SOFTE/Centre Sèvres, Paris, France

Philippe GAGNON, SOFTE/ANR Métagénopolis, Saclay, France

Henrik GRAPE, WCC/COE, Uppsala, Sweden

Jione HAVEA, WCC/COE/Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, Tonga, Pacific

Guillermo KERBER, SOFTE / ECR, Geneva, Switzerland

Martin KOPP, SOFTE/UNISTRA, Strasbourg, France

Loïc LAINÉ, SOFTE / UCO, Nantes, France

Frédéric LOUZEAU, SOFTE/Collège des Bernardins, Paris, France

Ama Aimée MANZAN, SOFTE/UCLy, Lyon, France

Victor MORALES, SOFTE /Tübingen, Germany

Marcel NGIRINSHUTI, SOFTE/UPAC Yaoundé, Cameroun

Andrés PACHECO-LOZANO, WCC/COE/Amsterdam Center for Religion, Peace and Justice Studies, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Yolanda PANTOU, WCC/COE/Gereja Kristen Indonesia (GKI), Jawa Barat, Indonesia.

Athena PERALTA, WCC /COE, Geneva, Switzerland

Michel RAQUET, SOFTE/UCLy, Lyon, France

Fabien REVOL, CJB/UCLy, Lyon, France

Otto SCHAEFER, SOFTE/UNISTRA, Strasbourg

Dinesh SUNA, WCC/COE, Geneva, Switzerland

Jin Yang KIM, WCC/COE, Geneva, Switzerland