January 20 2026, 18:30 Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Miami - 209, Altara Ave - Coral Gables. In commemoration of the eighth centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Italian Cultural Institute of Miami is pleased to host the lecture Everyone’s Saint. Francis of Assisi in American cultures by Professor Patricia Appelbaum.
The scholar aims to show how, in the United States, different generations interpreted the figure and thought of Saint Francis as models of cultural alternatives: for example, as a medieval figure during the industrial era, as a pacifist in the twentieth century, and as an environmentalist in the 1980s. The flexibility and variety of these interpretations have made Francis “America’s most popular saint,” widely represented in forms of popular art as well.
