BRUNSWICK — The Maine Council of Churches will host a multifaith forum and conversation about global climate change and poverty from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25, at Bowdoin College.

The forum is a response to Pope Francis’ call for all people on earth to come together for dialogue and action on these issues.

The event, which will focus on the pope’s eco-justice encyclical, “Laudato Si: On Caring for Our Common Home,” will take place in the Daggett Lounge-Coles Tower.

National and Maine presenters, representing a diverse group of religious communities, will offer brief responses to the pope’s teachings from the perspective of their own faith traditions and sacred writings. Confirmed speakers for the forum will share from Roman Catholic, Jewish, Native American/Wabanaki, Tibetan Buddhist, Protestant and Bahá’i traditions. The presentations will be followed by small group discussions with audience members.

“Maine people, within our religious communities and environmental and social justice organizations, have been visibly moved by Pope Francis’ recent visit to U.S. cities, the Congress and United Nations,” the Rev. Jane Field, executive director of the Maine Council of Churches, said. “As world leaders gather in Paris next month to work toward international climate change agreements, it is timely for us to gather for discernment and dialogue on these profoundly challenging and longstanding concerns we share and to seek ways we can work effectively together for a just, compassionate and sustainable Maine.”

The public, with or without a professed faith, is invited to attend.

FMI: 207-380-5387, www.mainecouncilofchurches.org.

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