women's conference

International Women’s Conference Held in Arlington

‘Women Are Fantastic When They Work Together’

By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 6/8/06)

Arlington was awash with the brightly colored native costumes of countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and Europe as more than 700 women from 39 countries gathered for the international meeting of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO) last week. Sponsored by the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW), the conference gathered the women to discuss social justice and world peace at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City.
“Unless we are aware of what is going on, we can’t do anything about it,” said Mary Rickaby, a conference attendee from England.
Education, awareness and solidarity were all discussed at the conference.
Speakers came from around the world as well, including Dr. Flaminia Giovanelli from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; Father John Jai-Don Lee the first priest to run the Office of Environmental Ministry in Seoul, Korea; and a panel of women from Tanzania, the Philippines, England and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) who gave testimony as women peace-makers.
The first talk, delivered by Maryann Cusimano Love from the Center for International Social Development and Catholic University Department of Politics in Washington, briefed the audience on the world situation in relation to justice and peace.
“You can’t think about peace without thinking about justice,” Love said.
She said that although international conflict has declined since the end of the Cold War, conflict is still very much alive and is especially impacting the most vulnerable — women, children and the poor.
“Building peace is about much more than combating armies,” she said. “It is something other than signing peace accords.” In order for there to be peace in the world, there must be justice. It is up to the Catholic Church, she said, to work for justice and set an example for the rest of the world.
The Catholic Church is blessed, she said, with many ‘artisans of peace’ — peace builders — working to prevent conflicts, resolve them, and reconcile and rebuild divided societies.
“God doesn’t allow evil to exist in the world,” Love said. “We do.”
One of the steps toward world peace, Dr. Lee proposed, is a renewed respect for nature and environmental protection. Without the environment and nature, human life could not be sustained.
“We come from earth, we live on earth, and in the end, we return to earth,” he said. “Destroying nature is equivalent to destroying the foundation of our life. If Earth’s economy goes bankrupt, then human economy will follow.”
Olive Luena from Tanzania, Amelita Dayrit Go from the Philippines, Yogi Sutton from England and Mary DeLorey, a CRS policy and advocacy official, shared what they have experienced as Catholic women seeking social justice and peace. Luena shared her experiences from Tanzania; a country though not involved in conflict, has served as a place of refuge for people escaping oppression. In the 1980s, she asked countries belonging to the United Nations to increase their awareness of conflicts and sought to hold UN members accountable for their actions.
Go talked about the severe poverty in her country and how it affects women and children more than men. Women are hindered by unstable political and economic policies and are often limited in their access to education. But amidst the poverty, there are success stories. Livelihood projects teach women to turn life skills into businesses.
Sutton, who was raised in a devout Hindu family in South Africa, attended Catholic Churches because there was no temple. She eventually converted to Catholicism and taught catechetics to children after the government closed Catholic schools. She taught African women how to take a stand without getting in trouble.
“Women are fantastic when they work together,” Sutton said.
She married an Irish-Catholic man in Swaziland in 1973 but they were forbidden to associate in their home country because he was white and she was “colored.” They immigrated to England, but even in London, Sutton experienced racism. By beginning at a parish level and working within her community, Sutton was able to combat racism and share her culture. She continued working with children and now serves as coordinator of catechesis for her parish.
“I thank God for the gifts I’ve been given to help these young people as an immigrant,” she said. “I’ve gained much and I pray that I’ve contributed and will continue to give back as much to them.”
When issues such as poverty, war and immigration, are not effectively addressed, people are left vulnerable to human trafficking, said Mary DeLorey, a CRS policy and advocacy official.
In situations where there is a lack of social justice, “desperate people are falling into the hands of people more than willing to abuse them,” she said.
CRS is works in 27 countries on programs aimed at stopping trafficking.
Through all the issues of peace and justice, there was an emphasis on working together as a community, as the Church, as a member of humankind.
“Solidarity is not just a vague feeling of compassion, but a firm commitment to work for the good of all society,” Dr. Giovanelli said in her talk on the social doctrine of the Church.
She also argued that charity is not simply giving money to the poor.
“It’s not enough to give money without the ability to use this money for common good.”
Dr. Giovanelli equated it to the proverb of giving a man a fish versus teaching him how to fish.
Afua Amoo-Adare, NCCW National President of Ghana, said about Dr. Giovanelli’s talk,
“You can do all the charity, but if you don’t follow up to see that it is equitably divided up it is not charity. If there is equitable charity, we will not need to meet to discuss peace.”

Mary Frances McCarthy can be reached at mmccarthy@catholicherald.com.