The Celtic Cultural Alliance of Bethlehem continued its celebration of St. Patrick’s Day with a scholarly discussion about St. Patrick the man, father of the Irish church, and St. Francis of Assisi and the Porverello, led by CCA board member Dr. Elizabeth Timberlake-Newell.

This event explored the backgrounds, turning point events and ministries of these two well-loved saints through their writings and their biographies. Though distant in time and geography, the lives of the world’s first abolitionist (St. Patrick) and the world’s first environmentalist (St. Francis) follow surprisingly similar paths.