VILLA MARIA, Penn – Another town hall meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 from 6:30 to 8::30 p.m. in Magnificat dining hall at Villa Maria Community Center. These meetings continue a series of educational town hall meetings on shale gas drilling in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.
The fourth part of the series scheduled for Wednesday, October 26th will deal with the stewardship of the earth and faith traditions. Religious groups are joining the debate over natural gas drilling. Bishops, nuns and rabbis are joining the environmental and social debate over natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region, and many are seeking a balance that reflects their congregations. The presenter is Sr. Nora Nash who is director of the corporate social responsibility program at the Sisters of St. Francis in Philadelphia. The group has a long history of asking the corporations in which the sisters invest to be more socially conscious. Nash visited western Pa. last year to talk to people in communities where fracking was taking place, and was disturbed by what she saw. Her group also signed the protest letter to the Secretary of Energy.
Future sessions will address the gas industries practices, the financial impact on
communities, the federal, state and local governments’ role and the moral and ethical considerations. These meetings are open to the public.
Villa Maria Community Center is located off Route 422 in Pennsylvania. Turn right on Evergreen Road and follow for approximately 1 mile. Look for the Sisters of the Humility of Mary sign at the corner of Evergreen and Villa Marie Roads. Turn right onto Villa Marie Road, and then turn left at the second driveway. The Conference Center is to the left.