Global gathering of Catholic women
International
Seven South Australian members of the Catholic Women’s League attended a three-day conference for the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUCWO) in Mary MacKillop Place, Sydney, last month.
Every four years the WUCWO Asia-Pacific members meet in a different location. The Sydney conference was attended by 116 women from Korea, Indonesia, India, Philippines, Fiji, Japan and Australia.
The WUCWO has more than eight million members and 100 organisations from 50 countries. The president general, Monica Santamarina, from Mexico, was present at the conference.
Karen de Sousa, from the Adelaide Archdiocese, is the WUCWO board member for Australia and organised this year’s conference.
She said there were a range of speakers covering the WUCWO goals, including Helen Forde, CEO Jesuit Mission Australia; Sonia Di Mezza, CEO Migrant and Refugee Settlement Service, and Nicole Chahine from Caritas Australia.
“We engaged in synod style conversations in the Spirit, discerning the most pressing issues facing women across our region and what we, as members of WUCWO/CWL can do to support our communities,” Karen said.
“We had an update on Laudato Si’ and our PlantingHope campaign which aims to plant 32 million trees as well as discussions on how to support family love and gospel values.”
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