Every year the Symposium Against Indifference offers students the opportunity to learn more about hot button topics in our culture. The upcoming speaker is Jana Bennet, a doctor of theology at the University of Dayton. Bennet will be speaking on the Pope’s encyclical and providing a different viewpoint for reading his letter. The encyclical, which largely focuses on the environment and climate change, has sparked a lot of debate. 

Jeb Bush recently remarked, “I think religion ought to be about making us better as people, less about things [that] end up getting into the political realm.”

This statement was made in response to Pope Francis’ encyclical. An encyclical is letter sent to all bishops of the Roman Catholic Church from the pope, usually outlining issues or concerns he wants the church to become aware of. According to professor of religion Dr. Craig Hovey, the encyclical is technically a letter written to the bishops, it is intended for everyone.

The Pope’s letter and Bennet’s response coincide perfectly with this year’s Symposium Against Indifference. 

“This year’s theme is environmental sustainability,” said chair of the symposium Dr. Jeff Weidenhamer.

Hovey who knew of Bennet previously through an Ohio-based theology group referred to the Symposium. The Symposium is able to sponsor more events like this because they work with numerous organizations on campus. This particular event is one that branches across many departments 

“We are glad to support Religion and Philosophy and Newman to bring her in,” said Weidenhamer.

While the Symposium is co-sponsoring the event, the Religion Department is in charge of organizing the details for Bennet’s presentation. Hovey said that he tries to really create new dialogue for topics that often talked about from the very same angle. This goal is one reason Hovey recruited Bennet to speak.

“She’s really skilled at bringing a unique perspective to over talked topics,” said Hovey.

This presentation is a perfect equation for Hovey, as there are two hot topics in society with climate change and the Pope colliding in the same conversation. He hopes that this will help create something really unique for those who attend the event.

According to Bennet, the Pope Francis’ encyclical is a bold suggestion to humanity calling the world to asceticism. Asceticism refers to self-discipline and the avoidance of over indulgence, typically for religious reasons. 

“As humble as this Pope is, he is making very bold claims and stepping into very big issues,” said Hovey.

It is because that the Pope is calling the world to asceticism that Bennet believes the Pope is in no way crossing over his areas of expertise.

“No one wants to talk about asceticism because we benefit from the suffering of other people,” said Hovey when asked why this was such a bold move by the Pope.

The hope is that Bennet will be able to bring some clarity to the Pope’s writings and create conversation about what our impact in climate change looks like from the Pope’s perspective. While there are some deep and difficult topics in this conversation, Hovey is confident that this presentation will help those in attendance navigate them these issues.

“We should make things as complicated as possible but never more complicated then they are,” said Hovey.