NCCW Meets in Jacksonville, Elects New Officers

Africa Rising, Hope and Healing

Whereas, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) sponsors Africa Rising, Hope and Healing, a campaign that calls for solidarity and action to affirm human dignity, promote peace-building, and reduce poverty on the continent of Africa;

Whereas, The campaign addresses the health needs of the victims of the pandemic HIV/AIDS, the number one killer of women, men, and children in Africa today;

Whereas, Other communicable diseases such as malaria, polio, and tuberculosis also require healthcare;

Resolved, That, through its support of the CRS campaign Africa Rising, Hope and Healing, the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) will increase the awareness of its members about Africa’s healthcare needs;

Resolved, That NCCW will support increased funding by the United States government for medications to fight HIV/AIDS and other diseases in Africa;

Resolved, That NCCW members are encouraged to bring hope and healing to Africa through increased awareness and education about the Africa Rising campaign and through their monetary contributions to the NCCW/CRS partnership program Help-a-Child Africa.

Education of Catholic Women on Catholic Social Teaching

Whereas, The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops promotes the education of all Catholics about Catholic Social Teaching through their document “Sharing Catholic Social Teaching:  Challenges and Directions”;

Whereas, The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Catholic Social Teaching, which includes the protection and dignity of the human person, the option for the poor, and care for all God’s creation is an essential part of the Catholic faith;

Whereas, The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states that “Catholic social teaching is based on and inseparable from our understanding of human life and human dignity,” and that “every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency;”

Resolved, That the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW), through its membership and its commission system, will promote the understanding and the living of Catholic Social Teaching as part of our respect for the dignity of human life;

Resolved, That the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) will encourage Arch/Diocesan Councils of Catholic Women (A/DCCW) to send their Legislation Commission Chair or a representative to the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and NCCW, among others, for education and collaboration with like-minded Catholic groups.

Justice for Farmers

Whereas, The Catholic Church teaches that every person has the right to life and to the material and spiritual support required to live and that the economy must serve people rather than people serving the economy;

Whereas,  United States farms have declined by more than fifty percent between 1950 and 2001, two-thirds of subsidies go to ten percent of farms, seven of every eight rural counties derive income from a mix of farming, manufacturing services, and other activities rather than farming alone;

Whereas, Poverty rates in rural areas have been consistent for the last forty years, with rates of twenty or more percent in the rural South, Appalachia, the Ozarks, the Mississippi Delta, and the Rio Grande Valley; and wages of agricultural workers have declined twenty percent over the past ten years, which results in poverty rates of approximately sixty percent;

Resolved, That the National Council of Catholic Women will encourage and support state and federal legislation that promotes family farms; 

Resolved, That the National Council of Catholic Women will support community and church organizations, such as the National Catholic Rural Life Conference (NCRLC), that work for prices for farmers and wages for agricultural workers that enable both to live with dignity.

Increase Awareness of the New Document, Sacramentum Caritatis

The Sacrament of Charity

Whereas, Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis on February 22, 2007;

Whereas, This Exhortation seeks to “take up the richness and variety of the reflections and proposals which emerged from the recent Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops…and to offer some basic directions aimed at a renewed commitment to Eucharistic enthusiasm and fervour in the Church”;

Resolved, That the National Council of Catholic Women will promote the distribution and raise awareness of the document among its membership;

Resolved, That members of the National Council of Catholic Women be encouraged to read and study this document, Sacramentum Caritatis, in order to deepen their understanding of the Eucharist as a mystery to be believed, a mystery to be celebrated, and a mystery to be lived.

Support for Beatification and Canonization

Whereas, The National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) is to bring all Catholic women into closer union with God by empowering and educating them in spirituality, leadership, and service;

Whereas, Prayer is an essential part of our work and life;

Whereas, Our society needs role models and intercessors who have lived exemplary lives as instruments and servants of God’s Church;

Resolved, That the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) encourages its membership to support, through prayer and education, the open causes of candidates for beatification and canonization to whom they have particular devotion.

Fair Trade

Whereas, The National Council of Catholic Women can make a significant difference against world poverty by promoting fair trade practices;

Whereas, The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Campaign Against Global Poverty seeks to promote an equitable international trade system;

Whereas, Farmers in developing nations have a right to just compensation for their products traded on the world market;