The Hartford Province of the National Council of Catholic Women attends Mass April 17 in the chapel of the Archdiocesan Center at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield. (Photo by Bob Mullen)
BLOOMFIELD – Marking their 90th anniversary, members of the Hartford Province of the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) gathered April 17 for a day of fellowship and prayer and to hear prominent Catholic speakers.
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, and Dr. Elizabeth Dreyer, professor of religious studies at Fairfield University, were the main speakers for the event at the Archdiocesan Center at St. Thomas Seminary.
National NCCW President Patty Johnson praised the Hartford Province for its work to support, empower and educate Catholic women in spirituality, leadership and service. She recognized the long history of the Hartford council, which organized in 1920, immediately following the inaugural meeting of the NCCW.
"NCCW is very proud of the accomplishments of the Hartford archdiocesan council, as well as the Bridgeport and Norwich NCCW," she said. "I am amazed that in 1923, the Connecticut Council provided over $20,000 in scholarship money" to the NCCW for social work in Washington, D.C., she noted, as she thanked members for their ongoing work and support on behalf of the national organization.
Congratulating members for their anniversary, Archbishop Migliore challenged participants with a talk which had a question as its title: "Catholic Women: Does Being Catholic Make a Difference?"
Speaking on the heels of the March celebration of International Women’s Day, he provided an overview of the status of women around the world, touching upon the hard global issues of maternal mortality, poverty, the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, slavery, trafficking, discrimination, access to education, and female feticide (an act that causes the death of a fetus), infanticide and abandonment.
Urging that consciences be guided by "a respect for the dignity of every human person," he noted that for Catholic women, "equality in difference is a fact of human nature explained also as a gift of God.
"Equality does not mean pure egalitarianism, to treat everyone in the same way, but to treat everyone in a way so that one can fully realize one’s specificity, one’s own identity," he said.
Similarly, empowerment, he continued, "is not simply to copy, to imitate, to pass to the woman personal, social, political, economic roles" engaged in by men.
Rather, he said, it is "admitting women to a full participation in social, political, cultural, economic and religious life" that enables them to carry out her roles with what the late Pope John Paul II called "the female genius."
In her talk entitled "Catholic Women Doing Theology," Dr. Dreyer drew upon a new eight-volume series for which she served as editor, "Called to Holiness: Spirituality for Catholic Women," and challenged women to see themselves as "theologians in the making."
As author of the initial volume, Making Sense of God: A Woman’s Perspective, she noted that "the time is ripe for ‘ordinary’ women to be doing theology" by helping to "sort through the great and small problems of our time through reflection on Scripture or the words of a mystic or theologian."
In outlining the new series, Dr. Dreyer discussed the context in which we are living; the call for grassroots, practical theology; and four doctrinal issues of creation, the incarnation, the Holy Spirit and the Trinity, before providing an opportunity for participants to exchange thoughts.
Archbishop Henry J. Mansell was the main celebrant of the Mass. Concelebrants were Archbishop Migliore; Bishop Michael R. Cote of Norwich; Auxiliary Bishop Peter A. Rosazza of Hartford; Msgr. Gerard Schmitz, rector of St. Thomas Seminary and Archdiocesan vicar for priests; and priests from throughout the state who serve as NCCW spiritual moderators, including Father Vincent Curran from the Hartford Council, Father Matthew Mauriello from the Bridgeport Council, Father Charles LeBlanc from the Norwich Council, Father Robert Heffernan from the New Haven Council, and Father Lawrence Michael from the Torrington Council.
"It was a wonderful event," said Maribeth Stewart, director of the Hartford Province, "and I personally was delighted that everything went so well and we were able to be joined by members from Rhode Island and New York. She also i president of the Council of Catholic Women of the Archdiocese of Hartford.
"The speakers were fantastic, riveting," she continued. "The audience was so very, very, intense listening to Dr. Dreyer. And Archbishop Migliore’s talk was so remarkable … just a breath of fresh air on the subject of women in the Church."
The NCCW represents almost 4,000 Catholic women who are engaged in programs that respond with Gospel values to the needs of the Church and society. The council will hold its national convention Nov. 11-13 in Washington, D.C.
