USA: SALESIAN ROOTS IN AMERICAN SOIL
ST LOUIS: 3rd August -- The 21st Annual Conference
on Salesian Spirituality, attended by over 200 participants of Salesian (Francis
de Sales) persuasion, took place between 31st July and 3rd August in the
'Gateway City' of St Louis. The theme of 'American soil' was strong, given
the Conference title - The Journey, the Place, the Adventure - and the location:
St Louis in the 200th anniversary of the 'St Louis Purchase' and the
explorations of Lewsi and Clark.
This year's conference, sponsored by the DeSales
Resources and Ministries Center in Stella Niagra, NY, took the world in which
Francis de Sales was born as a springboard for looking at the expression of
Salesian spirituality on American soil over the last three centuries, and ended
with a look at the Salesian spirit in the context of the evangelization and
transformation needed in the Church in the USA today.