World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUCWO)

Report – Archdiocesan Council Meeting, 4 December 2010

 WUCWO Centennial Congress, Jerusalem 2010

 The long-awaited 100th WUCWO Congress was held in Jerusalem from 5-11 October.  The 500 attendees from 60 different countries included husbands, priests and chaplains.  Three main languages were used — English, French, and Spanish.

The New Zealand delegation comprised Kay Blackburn, our International Secretary, Jacqui Gilligan and myself from Wellington, Liz Koorey from New Plymouth, Helen Kennedy from Auckland and Joan McMillan from Oamaru. Her son, Fr Pat McMillan, who is based in Korea, was also there as chaplain to the Korean delegation.

In one way it was just another conference — but a conference with a difference. There were very large delegations of African women lending colour, exuberance and beautiful singing. 

The agenda was very full.  Every day began with a Mass prepared by the different regions.  On some days it was Conference business all day.  On others there was business in the mornings, then after lunch a 2-3 hour pilgrimage/sightseeing outing, usually returning for some activity at 6pm such as a Mass or a Rosary, and on one memorable evening we walked the Via Dolorosa following the Way of the Cross.

The Via Dolorosa in the Arab quarter of the old city is usually very busy with shoppers and tourists so 6pm on Friday was chosen as the least busy time.  Being both the Jewish Sabat and the Muslim holy day, most shops were  shut.  All 500 conference registrants took part and it was a very moving experience, especially as the group we were in had a large contingent of women from Swaziland who all sang in beautiful harmony as we moved between the Stations.

The Opening Mass was held in the Old city, just across road from the Notre Dame Centre where the conference was held.  It was a very full day of business — too full really — with preliminary conference formalities etc. as well as three keynote speakers.  All were women theologians, and all very erudite.  The day’s business finished around 6.30 pm.

It was better on other days with usually only one main speaker. One day we heard a very lively interreligious panel of Focolare-based young people — Christian Arab, Jewish and Muslim.  They are few in numbers but it’s very encouraging to know this sort of thing is happening, and quite moving when they spoke of supporting one of their Israeli members who was very fearful of having to go and do her military service. Every Israeli young person at age 18 has to do 2 years in the army. Given the type of thing the army has to undertake, it’s disturbing to think how this experience must shape Israeli adult attitudes throughout life.

Another day we heard from a panel of women working in Holy Land – the Caritas Jerusalem head, a Maltese nun working for the Franciscan Centre in Bethlehem helping people with housing and employment, and a young Christian Arab women lecturer from Bethlehem University.  All shared common concerns, not least of which is how to keep their young people from emigrating.

The “security Wall”, built around all Palestinian territories, is an abomination and a real hurdle in trying to maintain employment across the border and in keeping up family contacts. It also makes it difficult for Christian Arabs to visit the Christian holy sites.  Christian Arabs, who used to be 20 percent of the population, are now down to 2 percent due to the difficulties of being caught between the Jewish/Islamic  confrontation.

This population decline, exacerbated by the difficulties of moving around the country, should be a real concern to us because we all depend on the Christians of Israel to support and maintain the holy sites.

All remits and resolutions were passed, including our NZ one opposing the forced marriage of girl children — a very real problem in many cultures.  Other remits — there were 12 of them in all — dealt with the right to life;  infanticide;  poverty and street children;  training and education in various fields, including ecology and Catholic leadership;  opposing the sexualisation of children, especially in the media;  the human rights of migrants; and urging more direct WUCWO involvement in interfaith activity and dialogue at all levels.

The priority adopted for the next four years is “Love in Action”, which can be expanded down to cover other subsidiary goals such as poverty, the education of women and youth, developing solidarity among all women, and their formation.  It will operate much like our current NZ League theme, which can be expanded to cover many different aspects.

The new President-General — Maria Giovanni Ruggieri — is Italian and the board is nearly all new as well, with10 of the 26 members being from African nations. There are 6 members from our region, including Catherine McGrath from Australian, Ainise Sevele from Tonga and Susana Evening from Fiji, who is also the new Vice-President Asia Pacific. The other three Asia-Pacific members are from Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea respectively

Visiting the holy sites — however rushed – was a highlight of the Congress. Mount Zion, the Mount of Olives, Ein Karem — the village of the Visitation – and Bethlehem.  I know as we get back to our ordinary lives and hear the gospel readings throughout the year all of these places will become so much more real and personal to us.

There was also a 3 day tour up to Galilee following the end of the conference.  Based in Nazareth, we visited places like Cana, Mt Tabor — the site of the Transfiguration — and had a Mass in the beautiful Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth.  Our final day was spent around the Sea of Galilee visiting Caphernaum — Peter’s home village where Jesus spent a good deal of time — Tagbha by the lakeside, the site of the miracle of the loaves and fishes — and the lovely peaceful Mount of Beatitudes where we had a beautiful closing outdoor Mass overlooking Lake Galilee.

I must finish by telling you about our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, which I’d been looking forward to as a quiet reflective experience.  Well … we’d no sooner set sail in our little boat when it burst into life with loud (very loud) Gospel disco (Rivers of Babylon and the like).  We were rather taken aback and I personally felt a bit disapproving!  However, the largely African contingent on our boat enthusiastically sang and danced along and we eventually felt that as we couldn’t beat them we might as well join in also.  The whole thing was handled very well though, as the music gradually quietened down until complete silence reigned and we were able to just sit and contemplate where we were and what had happened there 2000 years ago.  Then we sang “How Great Thou Art” and listened to some more reflective music.  By the end of the boat ride everyone felt they’d participated in something special.

Overall, we appreciated the opportunity to meet, mix and mingle with Catholic women from many different parts of the world.  Such networking is the real value of conferences, energising participants and making them aware that there are many like-minded people all around the globe, and that none of us is working in isolation.

In Faith and Service,

Beverley Telfar

WUCWO Officer, Wellington Archdiocese