The Rev. Joseph Patrick Breen will share his informed perspective on immigration and the church during a Vanderbilt Divinity School Community Breakfast on April 16. Breen’s talk, “Immigration: Welcoming the Stranger,” will begin at 7:30 a.m. in the Divinity School’s Reading Room.
Breen, who grew up in Nashville and graduated from Father Ryan High School, earned degrees from St. Ambrose University and Pontifical Gregorian University before being ordained as a diocesan priest in 1961.
Breen served parishes in Memphis, Chattanooga, Cleveland and Murfreesboro before being assigned in 1984 to St. Edward Catholic Church in South Nashville. He served as pastor of St. Edward for 31 years and helped launch Our Lady of Guadalupe, a Spanish-speaking parish that began as a St. Edward mission. He has been a strong advocate through the years on many social justice issues in the Nashville community and the church, including immigration.
For more information or to register for the breakfast, call Sha’Tika Brown at (615) 936-8453 or sign up online. The breakfast is $10 for the general public and free for students who register.