NASN’s Annual Meeting

By Fr. John Puntino, SDB

(Richmond, CA — May 1) — This year's North American Salesian Network (NASN) annual meeting took place at Stella Niagara Center of Renewal in Lewiston, New York from Monday, April 17 to Wednesday, April 19.

NASN brings together institutes and associations that share in the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales. Of the 20 member organizations Don Bosco’s Salesian Family is represented by the two SDBs, two FMAs, and three Salesian Cooperators provinces of North America and by the Volunteers with Don Bosco Secular Institute. Eleven in-person and seven virtual participants this year represented 13 of the 20 member organizations. Last year, through the initiative of NASN, Fr. Ángel Fernández, the Rector Major; Fr. Barry Strong, Superior General of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales; and Fr. Abraham Vettuvelil, Superior General of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales, jointly signed a letter petitioning the Holy Father for a letter marking the 400th anniversary of the death of St. Francis de Sales. Pope Francis, indeed, did issue such a letter on December 28, 2022, the exact 400th-anniversary date.

Together with DeSales University in Pennsylvania, NASN jointly sponsors an annual lecture series on St. Francis de Sales in memory of Fr. John Graden, OSFS who, along with Joanne Kinney of De Sales Resources and Ministries, brought together the groups that founded NASN. In the past year, NASN assisted DeSales Secular Institute in sponsoring a film festival for high school and college students. Janet O’Hare’s drama class at Salesian College Preparatory in Richmond, CA, took first place with a short video on St. Francis de Sales and Friendship. The video can be seen along with other entries on YouTube.

Much of this year’s meeting concentrated on creating a new five-year strategic plan. It also held elections in which I had been re-elected vice president of the board.

Look to a future issue of Salesian Family Snippets for an in-depth presentation of NASN, its mission, and its new strategic plan.