Join us for informational and interactive presentations with discussions during the Season of Creation. (Dinner included, please RSVP). September 19, 2024 – 5:30 – 8:30pm. September 26, 2024 – 5:30 – 8:30pm. October 17, 2024 – 6:30 – 8:00pm.

Access to clean water is a basic human need. In his encyclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis reminds us that the poor lack access to quality water; water is a precious resource and a fundamental human right. He asserts, “Fresh water is an issue of primary importance since it is indispensable for human life and aquatic ecosystems”. Additionally, he criticizes the privatization of water, its contamination, and pollution caused by industrial waste, which leads to water-related diseases. Join us for presentations to raise our awareness of these environmental issues, reflect on our faith underlying these issues, and discuss actions we can take.

Presentations & Reflections

• Water in God’s Creation – Fr. Chris Bologo
• Global Ecological Crisis – Prof. Iris Stewart-Frey, Dept. of Environmental Studies & Sciences, Santa Clara University

• Catholic Social Teachings & Laudato Sì – Deacon Steve Herrera
• Water Conservation – Peter Fant, President of Water Engineers of the Americas and Africa

Free Event. Please RSVP for dinner. Register here.

Speakers:

Iris Stewart-Frey is a Professor of Water and Climate in the Environmental Studies and Sciences Department at Santa Clara University. She received her B.S. in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Hawai’i, her Ph.D. in Hydrology from Stanford University, and completed a NOAA postdoctoral fellowship in Hydroclimate Science at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She has been on the faculty of Santa Clara University for 17 years. She is the founder of the Water and Climate Justice Lab at Santa Clara University and co-leads the Environmental Justice and the Common Good Initiative on Campus. Her work focused on the impacts of climate change and pollution in the Central Valley of California and Central America.

Deacon Steve Herrera was ordained a Deacon in the Diocese of San Jose in 2006. He has taught Catholic Social Teaching and World Religions since 1977 and currently teaches at Notre Dame High School. Deacon Steve is currently on the Board of DIrectors of the Center for Farmworker Families in Watsonville and serves on the Board of the Silicon Valley Interreligious Council. He is currently assigned to Santa Teresa Parish and his ministry is working with farmworkers in Watsonville. Deacon Steve is married and has three adult children and three grandchildren.

Peter Fant is the Manager of San Ildefonso Services, LLC, the business arm of San Ildefonso Pueblo, one of the 19 Pueblos of Northern New Mexico. He is responsible for economic and capacity development for the Pueblo particularly as it relates to federal contracting. Pete is the former CEO of a Civil and Environmental Engineering firm with more than 200 employees in New Mexico and the Southwest. His professional experience includes more than 30 years of working with communities, Tribes and Pueblos, designing and supervising the construction of water and wastewater systems. He previously worked as a senior field engineer for the U.S. Public Health Service with Indian Health Service (IHS), designing and constructing water systems on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Prior to the IHS, he was a facilities engineer with Intel Corporation working on high purity water systems. With Water Engineers for the Americas and Africa (WEFTA), Pete is one of the founders in 2002 and current President and has worked on projects throughout Central and South Amercia and in Africa. WEFTA has an annual budget of $1M with >90% going directly to projects. (www.WEFTA.net)