Theologian and activist to speak on climate change

Daniel DiLeo, director of the Justice and Peace Studies Program at Creighton University, will present the lecture “Climate Change as Religious, Ethical and Political: Interfaith Reflections with Emphasis on U.S. Catholicism” at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, in the Centenary Room (room 264), Quadrangle Building, Saint John’s University.

This event, sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning and the Nicholas and Bernice Reuter Professorship in Science and Religion, is free and open to the public.    

“Having completed his doctoral studies only two years ago, Professor DiLeo is already becoming a leading Catholic voice on climate change and climate action,” said John Merkle, director of the Jay Phillips Center. “And he has been doing admirable interfaith work in this area.”

In his lecture at Saint John’s, DiLeo will outline what he calls “the existential threat of climate change” and then present theological, ethical and political responses to climate change found in various faith communities. He said he also will suggest “why these teachings have not been embraced by the U.S. Catholic Church in ways commensurate with the climate crisis.”

An assistant professor in the Cultural and Social Studies Department at Creighton, DiLeo has served for the past 10 years as a consultant with Catholic Climate Covenant, of which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities USA are founding members.

DiLeo earned his Ph.D. in theological ethics from Boston College, writing his dissertation on Pope Francis’s environmental encyclical Laudato Si’ and public theology. His research focuses on Catholic social teaching and climate change, and he edited the book “All Creation Is Connected: Voices in Response to Pope Francis's Encyclical on Ecology,” which was published in 2018 by Anselm Academic.