1921

In 1921 there was an executive meeting in Cracow (Poland) to re-launch the Union and prepare for the fifth International Congress taking place in Rome the following year.

1922

Fifth International Congress in Rome: “Preservation and Propagation of the Faith”; women’s campaign for morality; against traffic of women; for preparation of women for civic responsibilities.

Mrs Steenberghe-Engeringh (The Netherlands) was elected president (nominated by the Pope) and remained so for 30 years. Under her guidance the Union (IUCWL) expanded rapidly and was in a position to become WUCWO in 1952. With 19 new organisations the Union numbered 40 leagues in 20 countries.

During the 1914-1918 War the Union ceased to function and only resumed activities in 1921.

Nevertheless the President managed to keep in touch with the Vatican as well as with several national leagues.

It was in 1910 that Madame de Vélard, President of the Patriotic League of French Women (later Action Catholique Générale Féminine, ACGF) suggested uniting the leagues of Catholic women throughout the world.

This meeting, called “the Committee for Initiative”, took place in Brussels (Belgium) and brought together the Leagues from Germany, England, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Spain, France, Lorraine, Portugal, Switzerland and Uruguay, along with the International Catholic Society for Girls, ACISJF.

On September 26, the President General of WUCWO, María Lía Zervino, was invited to give a master class at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum on The main problems and challenges of women in Latin America - Common and distinctive elements.

Uganda with the equator running through it and laying between the tropics has got tropical forests and savannah grasslands. We used to experience rain twice a year, February – March and about August – September. However, due to climate change, the seasons have changed making it difficult for farmers to plan for their farming. 

The Catholic Women Organisation (CWO) in the Archdiocese of Blantyre on Friday last week, cleaned Ndirande Township in Blantyre City as part of Earth Action Initiative on the environment.

The cleaning exercise in Ndirande Township follows a call to action in the face of the plastic and toxic waste crisis the environment has witnessed.

On October 26th of this year, we were invited by the Spanish Episcopal Conference and the Episcopal Commission of the Secular Apostolate to present WUCWO at the Days of the Delegates of the Secular Apostolate.

WUCWO AND THE NEW GENERATIONS

Message of the PG - November 2019

María Lía Zervino, Servidora

"In so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me" (Mt 25:40), Jesus said to us.

May our path to holiness lead us, dear friends, to caring for and promoting the new generations.

WUCWO also attended the last briefing on the work of the Synod on Friday 25 October. The following participated:

- Bishop Joaquín Humberto Pinzón Güiza, I.M.C., vicar apostolic of Puerto Leguízamo-Solano, titular of Ottocio, Colombia;

- Bishop Evaristo Pascoal Spengler, O.F.M., bishop-prelate of Marajó, Brazil;

- Reverend Nicolau Nascimento de Paiva, coordinator of CAIC, the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil, Brazil;

- Reverend Fr. Miguel Heinz, S.V.D., president of Adveniat, Germany;

- Reverend Suora Inés Azucena Zambrano Jara, M.M.I., of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate and of Saint Catherine of Siena, Colombia;

- Dr. Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication;

- Fr. Giacomo Costa, S.J., secretary of the Commission for Information.

“The Amazon and Beyond. Integral Ecology, Multiple Vulnerabilities and Youthful Commitments” was the title of the seminar organised on October 18 by the newly set up Observatory of the faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome in which WUCWO participated the seminar held during the current Special Synod for the Pan-Amazon Region aimed to deepen, inspire and open “transdisciplinary paths illuminating new ways of relating to God, to others and to the space around us” (Evangelii gaudium n.74).

On the occasion of the Special Assembly of the Synod for the Pan-Amazon Region, WUCWO together with Italian Azione Cattolica, the International Forum of Azione Cattolica and the Pio XI Foundation (School of Holiness of Azione Cattolica) organised an event on October 15 to discuss the theme "Witnesses and martyrs of the inculturation of faith in the Amazon".

WUCWO participates to the press conference, organised in the Holy See Press Office on October 3, of presentation of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region, taking place in the Vatican’s New Synod Hall from 6 to 27 October 2019, on the theme: Amazonia: new paths for the Church and for integral ecology.