Following a successful inaugural launch last April, the Catholic Professionals Network (CPN) is set to host its second event Nov. 3rd.

Featuring Montreal comedy-scene celebrity Giuseppe (Joe) Cacchione as speaker, the bilingual evening at the Grand Seminary of Montreal is open to all professionals in business or business-related sectors.

The parishioner of Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette will share his testimony on professional life and faith as one of the most prominent comedians in the city's Italian community. Well-known for his extensive involvement in community fundraisers through comedy benefits, the former math teacher holds a Bachelor's in Accounting and Certificate in Education, and currently serves as principal at the the Shadd Health and Business Centre, a vocational school under the English Montreal School Board.

Created to bring together business professionals and entrepreneurs, the Catholic network invites its members to keep a "Gospel-based standard" at the core of their personal and professional development, says Adriano D'Angelo, co-founder of CPN and parishioner of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Together with co-founder Sébastien Froidevaux, a commerce graduate and native of Switzerland, D'Angelo welcomed more than 50 attendees to CPN's initial gathering April 12, held at the Newman Centre of McGill University. The launch featured guest speaker Michael Gentile, Vice-President and Senior Portfolio Manager of Josyd Inc., the parent company of Formula Growth Limited. Gentile, married and father of three from St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish, is currently vice-president of the Pillars Trust Fund, which supported the event.

"Mike spoke about finding friends who support you and share your values, about the need to give back, and the importance of putting faith and work together. The feedback we received was strongly positive, and also quite constructive."

The co-founding team decided they wanted to create a space for business professionals "to come together and be encouraged to go about their work in a way which is informed by their faith."

"We proposed to do this in two ways," says D'Angelo: 1) to listen to witness talks from people in the community about their lived experience of faith and business and 2) to network with people of a similar mind, building relationships that are beneficial professionally and founded in common values."

The cinq-à-sept format for CPN's bilingual gatherings are simple, welcoming and without pressure to commit, inviting participants to an evening of meet-and-greet and a witness talk.

Through his Youth Ministry work at the diocese and involvement in the Challenge movement for young adults, D'Angelo saw the need "for people to gather and see others who share the same values and goals. Such encounters get people excited about their faith, about some idea they have to make the world a better place, or it may simply give them comfort in a difficult time to know that they have the support of a wider community."

"I also get this sense that a lot of what is happening in the modern business world seems like it's opposed to the Gospel, which is unfortunate because I think that hard work and intelligent management of resources are entirely Gospel virtues, and profit-making and success are positive things. So I got to thinking about how I could help to show the link between the business field, and Christ," says D'Angelo.

Froidevaux's rich experience was invaluable to the plan development of CPN according to D'Angelo. He worked as an educator in a l'Arche community by Jean Vanier and then as an administrative secretary for a workers union in Geneva. Since 2012, he has taken up the role of director of the foundation for the Grand Seminary of Montreal. He serves as a Eucharistic minister and accompanies those facing terminal illness.         

To find out more about CPN and/or its upcoming event, please contact Adriano D'Angelo.       
To register online for the Nov. 3 event, click here.
Admission is free.