Community Life Communique #6

Submitted by: Carol Penno

Happy All Hallow’s Eve everyone, and Happy All Saints Day and All Souls day as well. What great days in our Church for witnessing to the holy aspect of these days. I was preparing a communique to bring everyone up to speed on important information in our Community Life department of The Catholic Women’s League of Canada and when I checked my morning email there was Communique #05 from Dr. Rayleen DeLuca, National Chairperson of Community Life, I shall add her comments to my report to you. A reminder for Diocesan Chairpersons to send me a copy of the report they send out to their parish chairpersons.

Our last Provincial Convention held in Victoria was dedicated to Africa as you well remember. Beverley Reid presented a children’s film entitled Anita’s Africa. Beverley kindly gave a copy of the film to each Diocesan President which I handed out to them at the Fall meeting in Rosemary Heights Oct 11-14. She also updated us on the Uganda Library project and only $22,000 is left to be raised before January 08, 2008 when she returns to Africa. If you have any fundraising going on for this project see that it gets sent to her before that. I just received news yesterday that Beverley Reid of Coming Home Films won First Prize in their division Documentary Film or Video. We offer our congratulations.

Still on the topic of Africa, read the following from Pope Benedict XVI:

Pope Appeals for Aid for African Nation

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI called for international support to help the Central African Republic overcome poverty.

The Pope made this appeal Saturday, when he received in audience the president of the country, Francois Bozize. After the two leaders talked for a little more than 10 minutes, the president went on to meet with the Pope’s secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for relations with states.

The Vatican press office reported: “During the cordial discussions consideration was given to questions concerning the situation in the Central African Republic, with particular reference to the peace process and the role played by the Church in the fields of national dialogue, health care and education.

“Mention was also made of the need for the international community’s support to help the country overcome poverty and the other difficulties it currently faces.”

About 25% of the nation’s 4 million inhabitants are Catholic. Another 25% are Protestant, 15% are Muslim, and the remaining 35% adhere to indigenous belief systems.

Just a few days before departing for Rosemary Heights I received many pages of information from Development and Peace. A formal project to help Grandmothers helping Grandmothers has not materialized yet but Louise Charbonneau, from CCDOP asks that we work especially hard to help our ongoing projects under our 1% program with CCDOP. This will get help to those that need it. Rather than make another document I will cut and paste the letter from Development and Peace, Louise Charbonneau so you will have the right words.

Dear Ms. Penno,

It was a pleasure speaking with you last week. I Hope I have caught you before your departure for the CWL regional meeting. As we discussed, your regional group has decided to stop supporting the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Go Go Grannies project, in favour of supporting the accompaniment work that Development and Peace undertakes with fledgling community groups, particularly women’s’ groups, helping them to organize their community and find their voice in their own community’s or region’s affairs.

On behalf of Development and Peace, my sincere appreciation goes out to all your members and active participants in advancing the life of women in the Global South. However, as we also discussed, we highly discourage gift designation from even our most generous supporters, and we do not like to accept designated donations of less than $25,000. If the Catholic Women’s League wishes to designate its gift so that its members might get involved, we are very open to helping you do that through timely and regular communication of progress of certain women’s groups in Africa. If you would like Development and Peace to share information about a specific partner, we4 are delighted to do so, in any format possible, even if your group did not designate your donation. It is important to organizations like ours to maintain as much flexibility as possible when accompanying and providing funding to our partner groups. Designation is important to groups like yours so that your members feel involved and active in their solidarity. We can accomplish this for you, without the designation to a specific project.

I urge the regional meeting of CWL to consider Guinea and Togo, and I would be pleased to pass on further information on these countries as a follow up. I was unable to get the country profiles translated in the short few days I had to get this to you in time, so attached are the partner profiles only.

GF2D (Women’s democracy and development and action group) in Togo, Africa. Togo, like Benin, receives very little help from the world for its development efforts. We are one of the very few organizations helping Civil Society in these countries.

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CONAG-DCF (Rights and Citizenship of Women) in Guinea, West Africa. Women represent half the population of this country, and they have a long way to go.

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Women for Change, Zambia. As you requested. However, we need to renew this group’s support on our next country mission to Zambia.

<> I look forward to your feedback, and we hope you will consider supporting Development and Peace, and its partners in the Global South, so as to ensure that we can respond in the most flexible way to our African partners’ needs.

Sincerely yours,

Louise Charbonneau
Director of Advancement
Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace
1 888-234-8533 ext. 309

As you are aware I was corresponding with Dr. DeLuca as well trying find out what special project National may be lining up for us. Here is the note sent by email.

Dear Carol:

Thank you so much for your message. As you are aware, the Bishop has been very firm relative to Grandmothers helping Grandmothers. Part of his statement follows: (Rayleen means Archbishop Smith, our National Spiritual Advisor).

“In this matter, as in others, I think it is important to distinguish between goal and means. This goal of supporting grandmothers is wonderful and should be pursued. The means to do so is another question. In both our choice of goals and our selection of means we need to be unambiguously true to who we are. In this particular case of the grandmothers, the desire to help them seems, for some, to be so strong that they are not sufficiently distinguishing it from the question of how best to do it. By choosing only the Stephen Lewis Foundation program, goal and means are being identified and not distinguished. Since this is a pro choice organization we run the serious risk, by association with it, of introducing ambiguity in what we want to be our unambiguous stand for life. Therefore, to be true to who we are in both goal and means, I believe we have to find some way to support the grandmothers other than through the SL foundation.” Carol, at the present time, we are reviewing the projects that we support with D & P. We are again requesting to support a project that directly helps grandmothers. In the meantime, I hope that your members will be open to helping the children directly — via adopting a child from a developing country or from our Canadian missions. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every council adopted one child? It would certainly follow our theme to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

May Our Lady of Good Counsel guide us on our Journey in Faith to Love One Another.
Rayleen

With respect to how we might look in the public eye should Lewis be granted the peace prize, I think we all agree that our accountability to the Gospel and Church is more important to us than public opinion. So dear League members, in order to keep ourselves true to our morals and values we must avoid any collaboration with those that work against us.

In Communique #5 received October 31, 2007, Rayleen writes that one goal as national chairperson of community life was to prepare a power point presentation that could be used by councils throughout Canada. This would showcase the many good works of member through community life. The presentation is nearly completed and may be used to (a) attract new members: (b) provide an overview for current members: and (c) encourage councils to attempt new initiatives. We will look forward to this with great interest. Rayleen continues.

Environmental issues are at the forefront as well. Social and economic justice is a major focus of the League’s work through community life. However, while reviewing the responsibilities and activities associated with this standing committee, it was evident that there has been relatively little activity spent on issues associated with the environment. Recently, environmental issues have been identified as a critical area. The state of the world’s environment is of growing concern. For example, on September 1, 2007 at a prayer vigil, an estimated 500,000 youth heard the Holy Father strike a strong ecological theme, saying young people need to press for courageous changes to save the planet “before it’s too late”.

Child Poverty
Dr. DeLuca would like a survey taken by the Provincial Chairpersons. Would the diocesan chairpersons kindly find out how many parish councils have adopted a foster child from a developing country as well as from our Canadian Missions. Please report back to me before year end. If you have not adopted a child, please consider doing so.

I logged onto Development and Peace Website to get the report issued October 24, 2007 in which D&P delivers strong message to Ottawa on the need to call Canadian mining companies to account. Seeing that this is one of our resolutions it would be wise to read this press release in its entirety. Visit www.devp.org/devpme/eng/pressroom/2007/pf-comm2007-10-24-eng.html

I believe I have given you a lot of information to digest and work your way through.

So until our next communications I wish you well. Work hard at helping your fellowman under this Community Life Committee. Rayleen now says “Community Life Rocks with Love, Faith, and Wisdom.

Remember that email will easily reach me wherever I may be. May Our Lady of Good Counsel guide us in all our endeavours.

Carol P….