Integrity of Creation Conference

Climate Change: Global Perspectives

March 24-25, 2025

Duquesne University | Power Center

This tenth conference will focus on Climate Change: Global Perspectives, emphasizing the importance of global collaboration in coping with climate change. The interdisciplinary conference invites participants from different disciplines to engage in civil discourse on a different topic each year. The format of the conference includes workshops, presentations, and posters.

The conference series was commissioned by former President Charles J. Dougherty as an endowed academic event. Current University President, Ken Gormley, continues to inspire excellence in support of the Spiritan mission as the conference series develops.

The conference has three goals:

Provide a scholarly opportunity to engage established and emerging research on the conference topic
Foster interdisciplinary discourse on each topic, such as science, health, philosophy, religion, and policy
Enlighten public awareness and discussion of the conference topic

Conference Information

Speakers

José Altevir da Silva, CSSp
Bishop of Prelazia de Tefé
Brazilian, born in Amazonas, on 09/30/1962.
He entered the Congregation of the Holy Spirit in 1980.
He studied Philosophy at the Catholic University of Minas Gerais. Novitiate, in Ceilândia - Federal District, Theological Study in São Paulo. He did a missionary internship in Nigeria for three (3) years. He was ordained a priest in 1992, in the city of Cruzeiro do Sul, in Acre - Brazil. Advisor to the National Conference of Religious of Brazil in the area of missiology, in São Paulo. From 2007 to 2012, advisor to the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil in the missionary commission, at the same time he was secretary to the National Missionary Council of the Church in Brazil. IN 2010, he visited Haiti several times, during the earthquake, following the missionary project of the Church of Brazil in that country. In 2012 he was elected Provincial of the Province of Brazil and coordinator of the Union of Circumscriptions of Latin America (UCAL). In September 2017 he was appointed bishop, taking over the Diocese of Cametá in Pará. In 2022 he was transferred to the Prelacy of Tefé, taking over as Diocesan Bishop of this Church, where the Spiritans have been operating for over 100 years continuously.

Presentation: The Amazon at the Epicenter of Climate Change: A Global Alert to Care for Creation
Date and Time: March 25, 2025 at 6 p.m.
Abstract: The talk will address the crucial relationship between global climate change and the Amazon Rainforest. I will start with a general introduction to what climate change is and how it affects our planet, presenting the main concepts and causes of this global phenomenon.

Next, I will direct the attention to the Amazon, exploring its extraordinary biodiversity and its fundamental role in the planet's climate balance. I will present how this immense tropical forest influences the climate not only in South America, but across the globe.
I will address the main challenges faced by the Amazon region, with emphasis on deforestation and its impacts. I will show how climate change is affecting the forest and, at the same time, how the degradation of the Amazon intensifies these climate changes, creating a worrying cycle.

I will end with a hopeful outlook, presenting possible solutions and actions, including Pope Francis' thoughts and recommendations.

The lecture aims not only to inform, but also to raise awareness about the urgency of preserving the Amazon, demonstrating how its environmental issues are interconnected with social issues and linked to the future of all humanity. It will be an opportunity to understand why preserving this forest is a global responsibility and how each of us can contribute to its protection.

Submission Guidelines

Guidelines for Posters & Presentations

Guidelines for Essay Submissions

Parking Information

Duquesne University Forbes Garage - 1180 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

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