Catholic Women’s League of Canada | BC and Yukon Council

Submitted by: Alice Hallgren

Our Diocesan convention held at Holy Cross in Creston, went well and was well organized. I received many positive comments regarding the convention as a good social and learning experience. We said our goodbyes to Fr. Jim Ratcliffe; our Spiritual Advisor who has retired after ten years of giving us much valued guidance. Fr. Rex Velmonte is our newly appointed Diocesan Spiritual Advisor; he will be officially installed in September.

We had the honour of having Marianna Caldwell, Provincial President attend our convention, and, assisted by Sandra Stajduhar presented a workshop “Changing the World” a how-to do a resolution. This was well received and I might add a pleasant experience as we went through the process. Let us pray it bears much fruit next year and in years to come with Resolutions from our Diocese. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Sharon Geiger

To begin, turn back the pages to last year’s convention in Williams Lake. Did you all complete your “CWL Life in a Jar”? We hope you enjoyed going down memory lane as you answered your questions.

Members sharing gifts, talents, inspiring and encouraging each other resulted in Kamloops Diocese recording another year of challenges and successes including an increase in membership.

Hosting the 2008 Provincial Convention proved both challenging and rewarding. It instilled awareness that communicating and working together results in success – and confirmed conventions are a wonderful learning tool and offer a variety of opportunities for growth.

Promoting active leadership became a priority in most councils. Members used reference material for direction, clarification, guidance and inspiration as they encouraged growth of members both individually and collectively.

Noted accomplishments were the founding of a Catholic Girls League in one council, the praying of the Novena for Struggling Councils and one struggling council actually deciding not to disband after sincere prayer and reflection. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Edna Lorenzen

As this is my first communiqué, with the help of every one, thank you for your patience. 

At our recent diocesan executive meeting in Whitehorse, we made a motion to increase our membership due’s from $4.00 t0 $9.00.  This will allow an increase of $5.00 to the diocese. Our membership is very small and distances to travel are great, thus our operational costs are great. 

At the territorial (provincial ) level we met with the Yukon Minister of Transportation and the Yukon Minister of Health. We requested the Minister of Transportation look  into the use of cell phones while driving vehicles.  The Minister assured us the use of cell phones while driving would come to the floor of the House during the spring sitting. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Nicole G.

The Whitehorse Diocesan CWL Councils have had a fairly busy year and as I write this report the Diocesan Convention has just been held in Whitehorse and was a tremendous success.  We were pleased to have been joined by 3 members from Fort Nelson who made the long journey as well as Barb Dowding from Vancouver.  I would like to touch on a few highlights from the two Parish Presidents’ reports for the past year.

Our Lady of Sorrows Council in Fort Nelson remains a small but intact group.  They were saddened to have to say goodbye to Fr. Dave Daws last fall as he needed to go south for medical care and prayers are with him for improving health.  They have enjoyed having Father Gary in their parish since October, but he is leaving this spring and so they are hopeful that prayers for a permanent priest will be answered soon. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Elizabeth H.

Madam President, Reverend Fathers & Sisters of the League,

Hello, my name is Elizabeth Hoskins, President of the Victoria Diocesan Council 2008 / 2010. I present this report on behalf of our Past President – Agnes Geiger, as well as myself.

The Victoria Diocesan Council has enjoyed a productive year which included Education, Clergy Meetings Workshops, Social Events, & National Conventions, culminating this past May 5/6 with our 80th Diocesan Convention held in Courtenay.

Our Convention Theme:  “Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow, In League With God and Canada”, an appropriate theme for this special year.

“YESTERDAY IS GONE”
…  but it is prudent to take stock of our past success stories & perhaps examine our  not so  successful stories.   80 years is a lifetime.  We salute our predecessors who gave much to insure our Diocesan League continues to be strong & vibrant today….   through hard times of great depression & war, and good times of growth & prosperity. We have endured and will continue to do so, because we are Women of Faith & Women of Action. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Evelyn R.

With over four thousand members, our diocese was delighted to welcome our 51st council, the re-activated  St. Anthony of Padua, Vancouver, and start work on another. Several councils used  new display boards in their individual campaigns, while one council president designed a set of promotional cards to deflate the arguments of those women who offer the same old excuses for not joining our wonderful League. Four thousand cards were shared evenly among our parish councils (click the photo for a larger view of one of the cards).

Another success story involved our Diocesan League Development team. Led by our Past President  it draws from a talented pool of  Diocesan Officers, Past Diocesan Presidents and Life Members and uses a Power Point presentation to stress the importance of Standing Committees, and the necessity for members to step forward to chair them.  This is ongoing work because a third of our councils have difficulty in  finding members to take on leadership roles either as presidents or chairpersons of committees, and while we offer instruction at four General Meetings each year, not all can attend. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Susan S.

Madame  President

We are a Diocese of 18 Parishes of which there is 16 active. Two are inactive at present. I am working on getting one going again at present. My Parish Council has offered to help. I am hoping that with an invitation to our CWL parish council meeting in Fraser Lake some of the ladies from that parish will attend and we can sister with them and get Burns Lake active again. That is my goal for this year. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Alice H.

We are an amazing group of women whose accomplishments are many and diverse. Most councils report working on basic duties in the parishes.  Councils use whatever means necessary to keep councils active. Co-operation among members is evident as the League meets the needs of individual parish councils in ways which are  productive and positive. To improve communication in parish councils various means to relay messages and/or information may be explored as only the Bulletin is used by most.  Councils which do not have Resolution & Legislation Chairpersons report the members have interest in resolutions presented at Provincial and National levels. The Standing Committee Chairpersons have done a good job delivering their designated duties. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Lorilee J.

Madame President, Special Guest National President Lorette Noble, Your Excellency, Spiritual Advisors and Sisters in the League:

The CWL membership of the Kamloops Diocese has been a hum-drum of activity the past few months. I would like to acknowledge and thank our very dedicated members of Sacred Heart Council, Williams Lake for their hard work and tireless effort in preparing to host this convention. Thank you ladies.

Our Diocesan Council has been challenged to function with revolving secretaries this past year as our Diocesan Secretary, Diane P….., has struggled with breast cancer.  We are pleased to announce that she is here today.   Diane’s illness has been a stark reminder that our spiritual commitment and Trust in God is most important in life’s journey. » Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted by: Nicole G.

CWL has once again realized a fulfilling year in all our endeavors. With an ongoing increase in membership we continue to be able to contribute to the vision of the Catholic Women’s League of Canada through our service to God and Canada. We are so blessed to be a part of the largest national organization of Catholic women in Canada. We were present in the community with many of our known activities such as Hot Dog & Muffin Sundays, Bake Sales, Knights of Columbus Yard Sale, WRAP Campaign, Welcome to Winter Ball & Talent Auction, Baskets of Baking Raffles to name but a few.

The most exciting task that was fulfilled over the past year was that of hosting our CWL sisters at the B.C./Yukon Provincial Convention which was held last June here in Whitehorse. Over 140 ladies and their families made the trek north to visit our beautiful city and I can honestly say that they were not disappointed – the event was more successful than we had even planned it to be! » Read the rest of this entry »