From the WUCWO Spain team, comprised of 4 organizations: Acción Católica General, Manos Unidas, Asociación de Propagandistas, and Adoración Nocturna Femenina, in line with Pope Francis' proposal to build a synodal path and promote the formation of the laity, a training day titled "​Resilient Stories from the Old Testament with Women's Names" was organized last month. We are sharing the material from this meeting to delve into the lives of some prominent women from the Old Testament and their characteristics.

Our Social Responsibility committee has ben working on updating our Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse booklet. It was finally launched at our October Board meeting to respond to the reporting of rising numbers of domestic violence during the corona virus lockdown. Information is posted on our website https://www.nbcw.co.uk where digital copies may be downloaded.

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.

From 22nd to 26th July 2019, the Summer School "Building the Future on Peace", organised byItalian Catholic Action and other entities, will be held in Assisi, Italy.

“Catholic Action assumes the entire mission of the church in generous belonging to the diocesan Church from the Parish. The mission is not one of many tasks in Catholic Action, but it is the one task (...)
It is necessary for Catholic Action to be present in the political, business and professional world, but not in order to believe that we are perfect and formed Christians, but in order to serve better. It is essential that Catholic Action be in the prisons, even with those condemned to life imprisonment, because every prisoner needs a horizon, not a fence, or a wall... CA can give horizons... of reinsertion... It is necessary that CA be in hospitals, in the street, in the villages, in the factories. If this is not the case, it will be an exclusive institution that does not say anything to anyone, not even to the Church itself.”
(Pope Francis at the II International Congress of Catholic Action, 27 April 2017)

Discovering a little piece of Africa and getting to know our Senegalese friends, who are particularly welcoming, was a great adventure for me:
a colourful Africa, with cheerful women singing and dancing, and festive Masses that surprise and astonish us Europeans.

Incorporated into the busy General Assembly timetable was a visit to Gorée Island. The island lies 3km off the coast of Dakar, Senegal, West Africa.
The ‘House of Slaves’ and its ‘Door of No Return’ is a museum and memorial to the Atlantic slave trade on Gorée Island and is said to memorialise the final exit point of the slaves from Africa.

The WUCWO General Assembly was a discovery for us, for it was our first attendance.
The exchange groups allowed us to get to know the realities of women from other continents, which are, in some cases, totally different from our own.

See
You may be wondering what WUCWO is: World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations. More than 100 organisations from 66 countries on 5 continents are represented in this global network. From Spain we were 11 people from ACG, ANFE and Manos Unidas. In addition, we traveled with Teresa Compte, who participated as speaker.

I have loved Africa since I was a little girl and have managed to visit the continent in my adulthood which has only increased my love for its peoples and cultures. When I found out that the 2018 World Union of Catholic
Women’s Organisation General Assembly (WUCWO) was going to be hosted in Dakar, I was thrilled. There was also another exciting development to attending this event which was the small charitable educational organisation I had both founded and run – “Pencils for All” was going to become a new associate member!

Four members of Femina Europa participated in the General Assembly. Alix Lejard, delegate of Femina Europa to the European Parliament, Virginie Rotheÿ, WUCWO representative to UNESCO, Marion Senellart, treasurer, and Myriam Fourchaud, lay missionary and writer.

In June, we learned that over one million EU citizens signed the "Mum, Dad and Kids" European Citizens Initiative - a legislative effort to protect marriage and family, by defining marriage as a permanent and faithful union of man and woman with the purpose of founding a family.

Called to Justice and Freedom a celebration of the Life and Legacy

The service is organised by Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), the successor organisation to the Anti Apartheid Movement and
the Trevor Huddleston CR Memorial Centre, South Africa and hosted by St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Members of Leeds Branch of the Catholic Women’s League and visitors gathered at St Wilfrid’s Catholic Church, Ripon for Mass celebrated by Canon Paul Moxon before visiting the Wayside Shrine, 2 miles away at Studley Roger for their annual pilgrimage

STRASBOURG, August 2 (C-FAM) European ministers disappointed abortion groups last month when they failed to say that abortion is a human right. They cited lack of consensus in Europe.

Italian Consolata Sister Eugenia Bonetti, a driving force in the fight against trafficking and prostitution, was among the recipients of the European Citizen’s Prize 2013. The annual award was launched by the European Parliament in 2008 to recognise exceptional achievements by individual citizens or groups who facilitate cross-border cooperation within the EU or promote better mutual understanding between citizens and member states. It can also be awarded for day-to-day activities reflecting the values enshrined in the EU's charter of fundamental rights.

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The Catholic Bishops of Europe publish today a Statement in view of the upcoming European elections. In this text, they reaffirm their support for the European project. They encourage all citizens of the European Union to go to the polling booths on the 22nd and 25th May, and to start engaging, during the run-up to the election, in constructive dialogue with their MEP’s and those who are candidates for seats. At the same time, COMECE invites the Bishops’ conferences in the EU, to adopt this text, either by using it as an Election Statement as such or as an inspiration for their own election statements.

I’d like to tell you about a lady who as a nurse/midwife/manager has worked in Kenya for 27 years, she is known to her patients and staff as simply: ‘Sister Vincent’.