WIIKWEMKOONG – Father John McCarthy Sj. will be the guest speaker at a presentation entitled ‘The Message of a Planetary Pope on the Care of Mother Earth our Common Home.’
The event is being hosted by Wiikwemkoong Holy Cross Church in collaboration with the Christian Life Community Walk in the Light program. Everyone is welcome to attend the presentation taking on March 4, 2020 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Wiikwemkoong’s Holy Cross Mission.
“In times of planetary crisis we have hope,” said Mary Balfe, who describes Fr. McCarthy as “a brilliant fellow.”
The evidence backs up that assessment. Fr. McCarthy is the author of ‘Do Monkeys Go to Heaven? Finding God in All Creation’ and ‘Do Monkeys Go to Heaven 2.0: More Reflections on Finding God in All Creation.’
According to Novalis, his publisher, “Removing the so-often-made distinction between secular and sacred, Fr. McCarthy takes us on a journey and ponders nature’s revelation of God and God’s boundless love of us, showing us the need for us to be both scientific and spiritual.”
Born in 1958, Fr. McCarthy joined the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1983 and holds advanced degrees in theology. He also holds a PhD in Boreal Forest Ecology, a Masters in Soil Science and a BSc in Forest Tree Biology.
He was the recipient of the 2002 Canadian Environment Awards Gold Medal (Lands and Forests category) for his work in boreal forest conservation in Newfoundland. He is a lichen specialist and has named several species of lichen new to science, and one lichen species, Acarospora maccarthyi, has been named in Fr. McCarthy honour.
He regularly speaks on the subject of Christian faith and ecology and publishes on lichenology as well as ecological theology and spirituality. He currently works on the biodiversity of Newfoundland and Labrador lichens at the Department of Biology Herbarium at Laurentian University.
