Bishop Encourages Work of Catholic Women

By Alfonso Aguilar
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 4/10/03)

Nearly 100 women of all ages from throughout the diocese gathered to attend the Arlington Diocesan Council of Catholic Women Assembly. The meeting began with a Mass celebrated by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde at St. Anthony of Padua Church last Saturday and was followed by workshops on topics affecting the life of Catholic women and their families.

"What is God calling you to do from this day forward?" was the challenge delivered to all participants, among them some elderly women in wheelchairs and a group of young Hispanic girls from St. Anthony’s choir.

Bishop Loverde encouraged their work to educate and empower the leadership of Catholic women with spirituality and a great sense of social service.

Keynote speaker Susan Muskett, executive director of the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW), said with optimism that recent surveys show that "American people are becoming more pro-life" and told the women that they "will increasingly play a part in the solution of the serious problems of the future." 

Muskett described many ways that Arlington's Catholic women can support the important work of the Church from organizing prayer efforts for vocations, providing relief to caregivers through its respite program, donating books for homeless children, working in prison ministry, mentoring other women through its mentoring program and protecting children from environmental hazards.

Four breakout sessions were conducted with Del. Robert Marshall giving an overview of the most recent legislative session in Richmond. NCCW First Vice President Maggie Gray described the NCCW's Respite and Mentoring program; Family Life Office representatives Celeste McCloskey and Anne Thunder informed women about the Advance Medical Directive, Gabriel Project and Project Rachel; and Anne Murphy spoke about Parish Social Ministry.

"It was wonderful and all the women left the meeting with a better understanding of how each could further the work of the Church in their parish," said Berg. 

During the meeting more than 60 new books were collected for homeless children that will be donated to the Reading Connection, a literacy outreach group for children living in homeless shelters.

NCCW is an affiliate organization of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It has over 5,000 affiliated groups or parishes and its mission is to support, empower and educate Catholic women in spirituality, leadership and service.

For information on the Arlington chapter, contact Virginia Berg at 703/241-1129 or jvaberg@aol.com.  

Copyright ©2003 Arlington Catholic Herald.  All rights reserved.