Report of WUCWO North American Regional Conference

Submitted by: Nancy Simms

WUCWO North American Regional Conference, August 8 – 10, 2008

For me the WUCWO Conference began with Doreen Gowans and myself arriving at the hotel in Winnipeg on August 7th and being asked by Agnes Bedard to help sell WUCWO supplies at a table near the registration, which we happily agreed to do. This gave us an opportunity to meet many wonderful ladies from across North America, including the WUCWO President General, Karen Hurley whom we were trying to sell items to without realizing who she was! The next morning Agnes had Doreen and I assembling the table decorations and a large WUCWO poster for the conference and then we were back to work selling items throughout the conference. Just having the opportunity to do this work for WUCWO was an experience I wouldn’t have missed for the world. Marie Cameron also asked us if we would display handmade outfits that were made by a friend she had met through WUCWO who escaped a war ravished country (the name has escaped my mind) with all of her family murdered except her grandchildren, she is now making and selling these outfits to provide for her grandchildren. We sold all three outfits Marie had brought!

As for the business sessions of the conference we began with a beautiful prayer service where every woman in the room (approx. 700) carried up to the front different stories and pictures of women throughout the world. We were then treated to a very moving introduction of our first guest speaker, Archbishop Richard Smith by his own mother Ann Marie Smith. Archbishop Smith spoke to us on “Peace and love, Gifts to be shared”. He told us that we are in a time of new evangelization where we must go back to the basics of joy and wonder in our relationship with Jesus. And that this is needed because sometimes words are not understood and our relationship with God must speak for us. In scripture (Ephesians 2:13-22) peace is described as having nothing lacking – living in communion with God. Peace is the fruit of reconciliation and the church is to be a sign of the reconciliation of unity (centered around the mass) between God and humanity. We are to be Pillars of Peace. Peace is the fruit of justice and love moves toward justice. Jesus is love; He brings to the world the very love that God the Father gives to Him.

After lunch our own Barb Dowding gave us a presentation regarding her attendance at a conference in Rome earlier this year on the role of women in the Church. Barb explained to us that women must use their “feminine genius” to make a difference in our world and that it is important for women to be the peacemakers of the world.

We were then introduced to Nazanin Afshin-Jam, a human rights activist who shared with us her journey in life and the work she now accomplishes through Stop Child Executions. Nazanin was born in Iran, yet her and her family had to flee from their home country when she was very young. They came to Vancouver, BC where Nazanin was raised and baptized with her family into the Catholic Church. At a very early age Nazanin had a desire to help others and therefore she joined the Red Cross doing missionary work, yet still felt she was not doing enough. She decided that to be able to help more people she needed to become known in society so she entered beauty pageants and became Miss Canada and then went on to become runner-up for Miss. World. These titles allowed her to have a greater outreach for her missionary work. Although, it wasn’t until after she found out, almost accidently, about children that were being placed on death row and were being executed for alleged crimes in Iran that she used her pageant titles in the media, etc. to effect change for these children. Nazanin has now founded the Stop Child Executions organization to be a voice for these voiceless children. She stated that only by empowering the people of Iran will peace happen.

We closed the day with a beautiful mass and thus ended the first day of the WUCWO conference. Sunday morning began with a prayer service then President General, Karen Hurley shared with us that this gathering was the first of 5 regional conferences to be held in the next few months. The other conferences will be held in Verona, Italy; Mexico City, Mexico; Hartbeesport, Johannesburg, South Africa; and Seoul, South Korea. Regional Conferences are held midway between World Assemblies, the next of which will be held in October 2010 in the Holy Land celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the World Union. She stated that WUCWO’s priority for 2006-2010 is “Building a Culture of Peace through education and the alleviation of poverty”. WUCWO has held consultative status at various United Nations bodies since 1947 and with keeping within the mission and teachings of the Catholic Church works toward improving the situations of women and children throughout the world. She told us how “there is a challenge and opportunity to expose ambiguous language which some international institutions favour especially related to such topics as gender, reproductive health, choice, or rights”. Therefore, WUCWO makes certain that any of their documents “exclude the use of words with dubious interpretations based on world views that can be adapted to suit different purposes.” She told us why we as women of faith must offer hope and she thanked the CWL for our foresight to create the Endowment Fund which helps support WUCWO programs that benefit women and children worldwide. WUCWO North American Vice-President Agnes Bedard then presented Karen with a cheque for a little over $19,000 resulting from the interest of the CWL Endowment Fund that is given to WUCWO every six months.

Treasurer General, Joann Hillebrand then shared with us that annual expenses for WUCWO are approx. $80,000 and the annual income is approx. $100,000. She informed us that the money from our Endowment Fund funds many countries that do not have the financial means to attend conferences. The Us is presently setting up an Endowment Fund of their own with a goal of raising $5 million which would generate $250,000 in interest annually. The CWL was also commended for their support of MaterCare. She then announced that the collection from the mass the evening before was in the amount of $1,760 that would be given to the Santa Marta Clinic.

International Representative Arlene Barron informed of WUCWO’s work at the United Nations, how difficult, yet also how important it is to remain a voice for truth and dignity for all persons in an environment of hostility towards the Catholic Church. She also shared how help is needed to continue this important work.
The conference then concluded with a prayer service that had each of us come forward to take a paper with the story and picture of a women back home with us to pray for and hold in our hearts every day.