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In Laudato Si, citing both Science and Theology, Pope Francis establishes the climate crisis as real, urgent, moral, and spiritual. He links the cry of the earth to the cry of the poor and casts it as expressions of the same underlying dynamics. The pope calls for a conversion of heart so that we can cherish the earth as God’s creation and gift to us and to lift up the dignity of people above profits, technology and globalization.

Dr. Carolyn Y. Woo is President & CEO of Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Before coming to CRS, Dr. Woo served from 1997 to 2011 as dean of the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. During her tenure, the Mendoza College was frequently recognized as the nation’s leading business school in ethics education and research. Dr. Woo was one of five presenters in Rome at the release of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment in June 2015. Her faith journey and work at CRS are recounted in her book, Working for a Better World, published in 2015 by Our Sunday Visitor. Dr. Woo was born and raised in Hong Kong, and immigrated to the United States to attend Purdue University, where she received her bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees. Dr. Woo is married to Dr. David E. Bartkus. They have two sons, Ryan and Justin. Her parish is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore.