The CWL is alive and well in the Diocese of Prince George. We are faith-filled, devoted women, active in our homes, our schools, our parishes, and our League.

We breathe prayer – we pray for the deceased, the sick, the lonely, and the heart broken. We pray for the world. We have prayer sisters, prayer partners, prayer lines, and prayer shawls. We pray alone and together – with our faith members and with the members of other faiths. We pray for healing. We pray the mass, the Way of the Cross, and the rosary. We pray to Our Lady of Good Counsel.

Since good works count for something on the way to our Maker, we do good works. Needy children are fostered; funerals are catered to; vestments are purchased; missions, pregnancy centres, hospices, schools, and youth are supported. We work at blood donor clinics, Development and Peace functions, elders groups, cancer walks, and Meals on Wheels. How do we financially support these groups? Well, we donate and then sell baking, plants, and garage sale items. We cater meals, hold our own pancake suppers, and have bazaars.

We have fun! We have parties – barbecues, brunches, installation and reaffirmation ceremonies, pin presentations, Valentine teas, and dessert nights. We agree on legislation and resolutions, and sometimes we disagree. It’s good to hear a different opinion every now and then. We sometimes have elections; but we are more often acclaimed to our positions.

To stay on the good side of our priests, we fill so many ministries that you would think we owned the jobs. Guess what! Our priests love us for this, and we reap the graces of our good deeds so that when we do something a little out of line, they still love us.

We know that we don’t know everything, so we have guests at our meetings: from testimonials, to healing touch, to Alzheimer’s, to nurturing spirituality, to health topics, to meditation. You name it, we listen to it!

We live the League. We study legislation and resolutions. We believe in having our voice heard, so our MPs, MLAs, and senators hear from us. We hold special events to focus on poverty because we are ‘women against poverty’. We complete our reports.

Phew! That’s only three months of activities. At this rate, I think that we could rule the world. Nothing can hold us back! Well, maybe the weather might slow us down a bit, as it did early this year. Many women couldn’t make it to the meetings because the snow and cold clogged our streets and killed our batteries.

The above comments came from the oral reports at our diocesan convention held at the beginning of April. In all seriousness, I believe that every diocesan council membership fits the description that I have just read.

Thank you for your prayers for our success. The Prince George Diocese will remember you when we pray. We are truly centred on faith and justice.

It has been a wonderful, learning experience year. Each new chair I take on I learn so much more about our League and why I choose to “Belong”. I admire those ladies who have taken these positions on before me and I am so grateful for their willingness to be mentors and help me whenever I ask.

I was grateful that our Diocese had a full slate of officers to begin this 2-year term. The past Life Member Liaison, Diana Mackenzie, passed away in December and our Treasurer, Sandra Silberberger, passed away in February. We miss both of these wonderful members. I am grateful to past treasurer, Pauline for taking on this job until convention and then I appointed a new treasurer, Dodie’s daughter, Jennifer Foster. In the 2 weeks prior to convention 2 more of the executive resigned due to one moving, and one being unable to continue due to ill health. I am grateful that with a phone call, 2 prior executive members will fill in until elections.

I started this year in hopes of visiting each area and attending their regional meetings. I visited 3 of 4 and so enjoyed their meetings. Susan Steiner, past Diocesan President, and I went to Fort St. John in October for their meeting and we had a wonderful time and I attended one in Prince George and one in the western region. All were very well attended. I will attempt to attend all regions this fall {that is a lot of miles}. I have tried to aid and encourage those councils, which are struggling and will continue to do so.

The other thing I have tried very hard to do is get all councils to submit reports, which 13 of 16 did. We will have a workshop on communiqués and reporting at our mid-term in September.

I had the honour of having Nancy Simms at our convention in April and to award Life membership to Dodie Bond. She is a very deserving member and continues to help with Spiritual and mentoring at the local level and is always willing and gracious in answering all questions for any members.

Thank you and may Our Lady of Good Counsel guide all our endeavors in the coming year.

I have come to the end of my two-year term as President-elect and am now Prince George Diocesan President with a full slate of Officers. With a lot of prayer and encouragement, our ladies came forward and took leadership in each of our Standing Committees. I am very grateful for each one who has taken on this responsibility and pray that each one gets the wonderful benefits of the deeper understanding of each new experience. I attended Conventions at all three levels this past year, Diocesan, Provincial and National, a very enjoyable and great learning experience.

The goal of our past Diocesan President, Susa`n, was 100% reports from the Parish Presidents. She received 15 out of 16, 94%. That was fantastic. I also will attempt to do the same. We had hoped to visit all the councils in our Diocese, especially those who are struggling. We never managed that mostly due to winter conditions in the North but Susan was diligent in maintaining contact through e-mails and is fantastic at returning an answer to any questions we had. I pray I will do the same.

Our Diocesan membership for 2008 was 641. Service pins were, 10 year pins-10, 25 year pins- 9, 40 year pins-2, 50 year pins- 8, and 1- 75 year pin was handed out along with 14 Maple Leaf Service pin were presented to our members. Giving out pins and awards shows our membership we recognize and appreciate their service to the League.

Our Annual Diocesan Convention was held in Kitimat this spring. What a wonderful convention the ladies hosted. Everything was so beautifully done and nothing was left out. We asked for and received most of the beautiful decorations you see around you. I am grateful to Vanderhoof for offering to host the convention in 2010.

Our Diocese has been busy preparing for this Convention, with the hard work of the ladies from St. Mary’s, and the direction of the Provincial Executive. We have had great support from the Parishes of the Diocese and the ladies from the Parishes in Prince George. I hope you all enjoy this convention and your stay in the City of Prince George.

All the Councils are aware of pornography on the Internet and television and during the Olympics. There has been workshops and videos shown on Trafficking. Our National President sends us this message, “Perhaps, we should take time in our Parish Communities to get together in prayer and celebration with the other women’s church groups in the area. There may be many items such as the elimination of pornography and poverty that we could work on together. Who knows what the Spirit could bring to our collective activities”. I hope many of our CWL councils will consider making this a project for the coming year.

Enjoy a wonderful, spirit-filled convention and at it’s close may we all go home to our Parishes and councils with the renewed enthusiasm that attendance at a Convention always brings. May God and Our Lady Of Good Counsel richly Bless each of us in the work we do For God and Canada.

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.

The membership in our Diocese was down in 2007 by 25 members compared to 2006. Membership is a struggle but we keep working at it. Hopefully it willl be back up in 2008. I was pleased  that 16 ten year, 3 forty year, 3 sixty year, 2 twenty-five year, 3 fifty year, 2 sixty-five, and 8 Maple Leaf pins were presented to members throughout the Diocese last year. I encourage the parishes in our Diocese the give out the pins and recognize the ladies that work tirelessly for the Catholic Women’s League as the pins are there for that purpose let’s use them. It is a small token of thanks to our ladies who work for God and Canada.

Our Annual Diocesan Convention was hosted by Notre Dame in Dawson Creek April 11th to 13th this year with approximately 60 participants including our Bishop, Gerald Wiesner, and Provincial President, Barbara Dowding.  The spiritual programs were ably led by Dodie Bond. There were two interesting Workshops presented. A two hour workshop on Communication given by Barb Dowding and a fun workshop given by Betty R…… on forming resolutions using the “whereas” and  “therefore” in a resolution. Betty is our Diocesan Resolution Chairperson. There were many encouraging comments made on the Workshops.

We continue to work on the resolutions and legislation with a lot of interest. We are happy that “Age of Consent” C-2 was passed and the age of consent raised from 14 to 16. We must keep a watch on the renewed debate on euthanasia which is in the works, and keep on top of the Legalization of Prostitution.
Our members continue to work on Committees and many are in the Ministries of the Church. Funds are being raised to support  Development  and Peace, Catholic Civil Rights, Matercare, Coady Institute, Catechism, Pro-Life, Catholic Missions in Canada and many local needs.

May Our Lady of Good Counsel guide us as we work for God and Canada.

Madam President,

We are a Diocese spread for many miles with 18 parish councils of which 16 are active. Our membership is up 6% or 39 members.

We had a very good Diocesan Convention April 13th to 15th. Our National President attended as the guest speaker at the Banquet. She was at the convention from start to finish. What a spiritual, enthusiastic and inspirational person. She attended all the meetings so that she could experience CWL in our part of the woods. Mind you, we picked her brain lots and she was just one of us. Our Provincial Spiritual Advisor, Father Terry Brock attended and gave a presentation on Saint Gianna Molla. Marilyn V………., provincial 2nd vice was also in attendance and gave a workshop on Restructuring of Standing Committees. Another two hours went by fast. Our convention ended on an enthusiastic note.

Our members continue to work on the committees and many are in the ministries of the church. Funds are being raised to support Development and Peace, Catholic Civil Rights, Matercare, Cody Institute, Catechism, Pro-Life, Missions Canada and many local needs. There are letters written to the MLA’s & MP’s supporting the resolutions. There were no styrofoam cups or plates at our Diocesan Convention in Smithers this year. We support White Ribbon Campaign, Life Chain, World Day of Prayer, work with palliative care, and many more CWL things. I must also mention one of our youngest CWL Members has left us to enter the Cistersian Monastery as a postulant. She is from the Fraser Lake Parish.

I emailed or faxed every parish pastor and parish CWL president regarding Canada Apologizing to the World–re– Definition of Marriage as directed by Barb Dowding.

I received this position in April, six weeks ago and haven’t made many plans yet although we are planning a workshop on writing reports and/or a workshop on elections at our mid-term meeting.

May Our Lady of Good Counsel guide us as we work for God and Canada.

Respectfully Submitted

Susan S……., Prince George Diocesan President