WUCWO President's message of September

The power of prayer and penance

Dear friends,

we have seen with horror the pictures of Afghan mothers throwing their children through barbed wire fences to save their lives... heart breaking gestures of love of the women from such a suffering land! Afghanistan is rich in gold and other minerals; it has a strategic geopolitical position that has suffered several foreign occupations, and its territory is plagued by land mines that produce about 120 deaths per month, among other sufferings. How can we not commiserate with such tragedies!

How and why to love the poor

Dear friends,

On 13 June, Pope Francis gave us his message for the 5th World Day of the Poor, which will take place on 14 November 2021. As all the women of WUCWO, who wish to sentire cum Ecclesia (“think and feel with the Church”), we have to prepare ourselves and our organisations; that’s why I recommend you to read and meditate on the Pope’s message. We can pray with it.

About the so-called “human right to abortion”

July 1st, 2021

“Let us save both lives!” The life of the unborn child and the life of the mother are both a gift that humanity, not only Christians, must strive to save and care for throughout their development. With the advances of science, it is increasingly evident that the euphemism “voluntary termination of pregnancy” is a crime. We are not dealing with a truth of faith, but with a reality that any conscious and upright human being can recognise: the life of an innocent person, evolving in the womb, and the life of the mother which, often for justified reasons, is at risk.

Sacred Heart, teach us to love as you love.

Dear friends,

June is the month which traditionally, both for great saints and for the simplest of God's people, is dedicated especially to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. To that Heart which reminds us that God loved us first and ardently desired to eat the Passover with each one of us. It is precisely Corpus Christi, the presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, that we celebrate during this month.

Towards a synodal Church and a synodal WUCWO

Dear friends,

We are trying to emerge from this pandemic that will be marked in the history of humanity as a great crisis. Pope Francis repeats to us that “we never come out of a crisis the same: one comes out better or worse.” And we, women of WUCWO, live rooted in faith in the Risen Christ who urges us to live this Easter season 2021 with hope in the coming of the Holy Spirit who will “make all things new” (Rev 21:5).

With a mother’s and father’s heart.

Dear friends,

Since 19 March we have been living the “Amoris Laetitia Family” Year, which will culminate on 26 June 2022 with the 10th World Meeting of Families in Rome. At the same time, as you know, Pope Francis gave us a beautiful letter, Patris corde, on 8 December 2020, with which he launched the Year of Saint Joseph. Both celebrations go hand in hand and constitute for us a source of grace to develop within ourselves a mother's and a father's heart.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF WUCWO  

Now more than ever, in this situation caused by the Coronavirus, we as women feel we are co-responsible, together with men, to think and reflect on Fratelli tutti in order to raise awareness and educate towards the application of the treasure that the encyclical means for humanity. In this way we will move from the uncertainty in which we live to the certainty of the objective to be achieved: fraternity-sorority and social friendship, from indifference to commitment, from consumer individualism to generous solidarity, from isolation to social fabric, from declarations to facts.

WUCWO women: at prayer, fraternal and missionary

Dear friends,

We are living a particular year in human history because we are trying to get ahead of the global crisis generated by Covid-19. The virus worsened the situations of injustice and the tragedies that a large part of humanity and our planet already suffered. As the Pope often reminds us: you never get out of a crisis the same, either better or worse.

Working together for a culture of care.

Dear friends,

we begin this year with a strong and tender call from the Holy Father: “I ask everyone to […] become a prophetic witness of the culture of care, working to overcome the many existing social inequalities. This can only come about through a widespread and meaningful involvement on the part of women, in the family and in every social, political and institutional sphere. […] Promoting a culture of care calls for a process of education. The ‘compass’ of social principles can prove useful and reliable in a variety of interrelated contexts. Let me offer a few examples:

A field hospital to heal the victims and the creation.

The crisis of the Coronavirus is not only a health crisis, for it also has repercussions in many areas: economy, politics, our family environment and that of our organisations. It was not present in science fiction bestsellers or in the collective imagination. This global and complex crisis aggravates the climatic, migratory, discriminatory and enslaving hardships already existing in humanity. “Those who fail to view a crisis in the light of the Gospel simply perform an autopsy on a cadaver. They see the crisis, but not the hope and the light brought by the Gospel.” (Pope Francis to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2020).

Together with Mary, let us weave humanity into this our time

Dear friends,

“«When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman» (Gal 4:4). Born of woman: Jesus came in this way. […] In the womb of a woman, God and mankind are united, never to be separated again. Even now, in heaven, Jesus lives in the flesh that he took in his mother’s womb.” (Pope Francis, homily of 1 January 2020)