Welcome!

Welcome to the website for the Benedictine High Schools of North America.

Benetna is a network of 21 secondary Benedictine high schools that is supported by 13 Benedictine colleges and universities in the United States and Canada (ABCU). Benetna was formed almost 20 years ago to increase educational opportunities for the lay faculty and staff in our schools. With the dwindling number of men and women religious it was imperative to train and form the future leaders of our schools to carry on the charisms of Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica in our communities. Benetna has organized and hosted conferences and workshops for students, administrators, faculty and staff to enrich their understanding of The Rule written by Saint Benedict and how it applies to their daily life and their calling as Benedictine educators. Our website provides an overview of past workshops and conferences and information on upcoming events for member schools.

Our regional conference is the Benedictine Leadership Institute (BLI), and it occurs each summer. More information about the BLI can be found on this website. There is also information about how to get registered for this summer’s conference which will be held at St. Anselm College (NH) on June 20-24, 2022.

As a regional network of the International Commission on Benedictine Education (ICBE), Benetna sends representatives to the international conference. The ICBE international conferences are held every three years, with recent meetings in Australia (2019) and Italy (2016). ICBE is currently planning its next international conference to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the fall of 2023.

As our Benedictine schools find ways to reconnect after canceled conferences in 2020 and 2021, we look forward to continuing the wonderful work of this network and the faithful efforts of our previous North American delegate, Tim Molak, who retired in 2020. It is our goal to continue the momentum of BLI 2018 and BLI 2019 and to find ways to build meaningful relationships between our member schools.

Mike Nickolai and Jim Duffy,

Co-Delegates of ICBE North America Region