2017 Gregor Mendel Symposium

Care of Our Common Home:
Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’

Villanova University is hosting a Symposium on the inspiring thought surrounding the 19^th  century Augustinian friar, Gregor Mendel and the effect of his legacy on the environmental challenges confronting the world today.  While Mendel is most famous for helping to shape the world’s collective understanding of genes, crossbreeding and heredity, the 2017 Symposium will focus on Mendel’s other contributions to the sciences—the study of meteorology and apiology—and the close ties his concern for the environment has to Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care of Our Common Home.

Six academic and global thought leaders will present multidisciplinary perspectives on the Encyclical as it relates to climate change and sustainability. Speakers will discuss the science of climate change, the risks associated with it, what to do about it, and the political and economic choices the Encyclical confronts us with today.

Villanova University, which was founded by the Augustinian Order in 1842, plays a key role in sustaining Mendel’s legacy and caring for the planet in the face of global challenges. The University’s science center is named for Mendel, and, since 1929, prominent scientists, including several Nobel Prize recipients, have been honored with the Mendel Medal, given in recognition of outstanding scientific achievement accompanied by religious conviction.