Rev. Fathers, Madame President and Sisters in the League:
Aside from being the new president for the Nelson diocese I am also a relatively new “transplant” there from Vancouver. Coming from Vancouver has been both a blessing and a challenge. It was a blessing in that I developed many friendships as well as a great love for the League during my 10 years in the Vancouver diocese. A challenge because Vancouver is quite unique for BC, not only in the fact that there is so much going on and available to take in, but also in that travelling to get together might entail at the most an hour. I quickly learnt the reality of living outside of Vancouver. My first event as diocesan president was attending an 80th council anniversary in Sparwood – a mere 8-hour drive from Kelowna! I told the ladies there that I now truly felt like a fellow CWL sister in our diocese!
During my 3 years on the Nelson council I’ve come to more deeply appreciate how not only do we, as individuals, have our own unique set of God-given gifts but each diocese in BC also brings to the table its own uniqueness. I am still at the baby stage of learning what life is like in some of these small towns in BC but the impact that these small councils have in their community is astounding! This is evident in an interesting fact that I discovered when looking at all our councils’ charter dates. Of the 21 councils, the average was 73 years!
For my 2 year term, my focus will primarily be on deepening community along with unity. I have chosen the theme “One in the Spirit” to showcase this. Not only does it express a great truth but also a great responsibility and challenge to us all as Catholic women – to make sure this unity is seen in the works we do as CWL.
To help mitigate the great distances between councils and the fact that we only have 2 events each year to get together – our Fall meeting (and then only the council presidents) and our convention – we will be launching our own Diocesan newsletter. This will be primarily for the parish councils to be able to share information with each other but also for everyone to get to know names and faces in the diocese.
Social events between councils in the same area will be encouraged – again to develop sisterhood.
At present, we have no President-Elect at the diocesan level. I do, however, have a wonderful lady who has stepped forward as our Organization Chair. With prayers and encouragement, I’m sure we’ll be able to remedy this situation.