The Catholic Women's League of Canada (CWL)

St. Paul Diocesan Council

(Updated April 22, 2011 ; CWL St. Paul  home page ; contact us at: cwlstp@stpaul.cwl.ab.ca  ; CWL ABMK home page)

President's Communiques

(previous) President (2009-2011):  Annette deBoer <padeboer[at]seltec.ca>

| Communique #3 - Apr'10 | President's Report to Convention - Apr'10 | President's Annual Report 2009 & PDF | Communique #2 - Feb'10 | Communique #1 - Oct03/09 |

April 2011  CWL St. Paul President's Report to Convention | web PDF |
April 2011  CWL St. Paul President Communique #6 | web version PDF |
March 2011  CWL St. Paul President's Annual Report 2010 | web PDF |
February 2011  CWL St. Paul President Communique #5 | web version PDF |
October 2010  CWL St. Paul President Communique #4 | web version PDF |
October 2010  CWL St. Paul President's Report to Fall Meeting | web PDF |
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April 2010  CWL St. Paul President Communique #3

I hope you all had a Blessed Easter and spent time enjoying family and friends as you celebrated the resurrection of Our Lord and that you carry this new life with you through out the year.

This Communiqué will be sent out in the packages distributed at our 54th Annual Convention, being held in Swan Hills this coming weekend, April 9 & 10. I look forward to seeing those who are able to join us in this time of fellowship and celebration of what we, as a CWL in the Diocese of St. Paul, have accomplished in the past year. In reading the presidents' reports, it always seems we don’t realize just how much we do for our church and communities until we actually start writing it down. Even the smallest and “least active” councils do wonderful work. Thank you!

Our Diocesan Convention is just the start of the convention circle that happens each year within the CWL. The Provincial Convention will be held on May 28 & 29, 2010 in Fairview, Alberta. Each Parish President should all have received a registration package in the mail; if not, the packages are on the website  <www.cwl.ab.ca/provconvinfo.html>. Don’t forget that a bus is being arranged for those who wish to travel to the convention by bus; if you need more information you can contact me or check the website. Provincial Spiritual Development Chair Gloria L. would like each council to send her a picture of their spiritual advisor; she is putting together a power point presentation to honour them at the convention. If you have not already done so, please try to do this right away. [e-Mail <cwlstp[at]stpaul.cwl.ab.ca> for Gloria's contact info]

National Convention is being held in Ottawa in August, 2010; information and registration forms are in your winter issue of The Canadian League magazine. To spice things up, all Alberta Mackenzie delegates to the National Convention are asked to dress in 1970 era clothing on Monday, August 9. Each province has a different decade to display. In addition, we are trying to put together a poster of what the St. Paul Diocesan CWL was doing in the 70s. If you have any picture or news articles from that era, please send a copy to me to put together a poster for display at the National Convention.

Events to post on your calendar: National Communication Chair Betty Anne B. is looking for suggestions to name the CWL E-Newsletter. If you have any ideas, please submit them directly to her at the National Office.

As part of the celebration for Year for Priests, letters of appreciation will be sent by the National President, Danielle McN.-H. to all Spiritual Advisors. Also, National will be holding two random draws of current Spiritual Advisors and the winners will have all their expenses paid to attend the National Convention in Ottawa.

In my last couple reports, I have asked the parish councils to consider donating to the fundraising efforts of the 2012 National Convention Committee. The 2012 Convention will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the CWL and will be held in Edmonton, where the first CWL began. Thank you to those councils who have already indicated that they are once again in League with their CWL sisters and planning to donate. Please send any donations to Becky K., Treasurer, National Convention Planning Committee [e-Mail <cwlabmk[at]cwl.ab.ca> for address]. Please make cheques payable to “CWL National Convention 2012.”

As we continue towards spring and summer, let us remember to take time to appreciate the beauty around us, in people and in nature, and let us be thankful for all the blessings that we receive so abundantly.

Annette deB.,
St Paul Diocesan President

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April 2010  CWL St. Paul President's Report to the Annual Convention

I would like to welcome you all to the 54th Annual St. Paul Diocesan Convention of the Catholic Women’s League. Thank you for taking time from your busy schedules to be here with us.

In reading the presidents' reports, it always seems we don’t realize just how much we do for our church and communities until we actually start writing it down. Even the smallest and “least active” councils do wonderful work. Thank you!

To touch very briefly on some of the upcoming events that you all need to be aware of:
The Provincial Convention will be held on May 28 & 29, 2010 in Fairview, Alberta. Each Parish President should have received a registration package in the mail; if not, the packages are on the website  <www.cwl.ab.ca/provconvinfo.html> or I have some printed on the table that you can take. Don’t forget that a bus is being arranged for those who wish to travel to the convention by bus.

National Convention is being held in Ottawa, August 8-11, 2010; information and registration forms are in your winter issue of The Canadian League magazine. Alberta Mackenzie delegates to the National Convention are asked to dress in 1970 era clothing on Monday, August 9. If you have any pictures or news articles from that era, please send a copy to me to put together a poster for display at the National Convention. As part of the celebration for Year for Priests, National will be holding two random draws of current Spiritual Advisors and the winners will have all their expenses paid to attend the National Convention in Ottawa.
As we continue towards spring and summer, let us remember to take time to appreciate the beauty around us, in people and in nature, and let us be thankful for all the blessings that we receive so abundantly.

Respectfully Submitted,
Annette deB.
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April 2010  CWL St. Paul President's Annual Report 2009 | PDF version |
Thank you to all members of the Catholic Women’s League in the Diocese of St. Paul. Because of you, I can honestly say that the spirit of Peace and Hope is alive and well in our part of the world today. God bless you all!

There are twenty councils in the Diocese of St. Paul with a total of 609 members for the year 2009. Members range in ages and participate as they are able. Many do not attend the regular meetings of the councils, but willingly assist in other ways. Some councils struggle to fill executive positions, but they somehow manage to keep the spirit alive and continue to pray for members to be open to new opportunities to serve their sisters in the League. Almost all councils reporting use “word of mouth” as well as their parish bulletins to disseminate news of their activities to their members and parish families.

The spirituality of our members speaks to us from the pages of their reports. Councils report devotions to Mary in the recitation of the Rosary and celebration of mass for Mary’s special feast days. They include bible studies, personal and group retreats, and the study of angels as part of their spiritual development. One council expanded on their celebration of Peace and Hope Sunday by displaying their CWL council’s memorabilia of scrapbooks, photo albums and promotional materials at Mass. They host and participate in World Day of Prayer and one council reports participating in weekly interfaith Lenten activities with other church groups in their community. They sponsor masses and are honour guards for deceased members; host prayer chains and participate in all of the ministries at mass, including Children’s Liturgy. Several report receiving the Western Catholic Reporter, Catholic Digest and Prairie Messenger.

Social justice issues are always areas of concern for our members. Each report that was received had at least one activity related to social justice. Letters were written to governments at all levels regarding euthanasia and palliative care, assisted suicide, human trafficking, sexual exploitation of children, pornography and abortion funding. Other concerns included working towards clean water for all and enhanced funding of Catholic education. Members were also urged to request and use religious stamps at Christmas. Support was strong for the Walk for Life and local Christmas hamper and food bank organizations and Meals on Wheels. Of special interest is the Parish Baby Shower, where parishioners bring baby items that are given to the local crisis centre, and “Warm Socks for Cold Souls” to help homeless during the cold winter months.

Fundraising was an activity that all councils used to help them support their extensive good causes. Fall suppers, strawberry teas, bake sales, sale of croissants and homemade pies, a Hunger Supper, and garage sales are tried and true standbys. Once council coordinated their Community Calendar project, another organized a silent auction in conjunction with their Valentine’s Tea. Many parishes sell religious items at their churches. Funds raised are used to support the Bishop’s Faith Formation (Seminarian) Fund, Development and Peace, Pennies for the Poor and Share Lent as well as local food banks, bursaries for graduates at local schools and local crisis centres. Several councils sponsor children and families through Chalice; one sponsored a young adult who is doing missionary work in India and another gave money to a family in their community that was having an especially hard time and needed support. One council has set aside money to assist in one of their younger members who is planning to bring a Pro-Life speaker to local schools and community for a testimonial.

It is plain that our parish and communities are rich for having such dedicated women in their midst. Time spent in assisting in their communities range from visiting the sick and elderly, planting flowers and cleaning the cemetery to beautify their church property and towns, volunteering at women’s shelters and crisis centres. These women bring Peace and Hope to those who see their examples. God bless each one of them!

For God and Canada,

Annette deB.
St. Paul Diocesan President
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February 2010  CWL St. Paul Diocesan President Communique #2
| printable pdf version |

Welcome back to CWL activities after what I hope was a refreshing time with family and friends, celebrating the birth of our Lord. We are coming into the busiest time of the year for the CWL family. January was Membership month and time to remember to send off your Walter Krewski Membership Award information to our treasurer, Jeanette L. and to Sheila H., Provincial Organization Chair.

January was also the month that myself and Lynne R., your President-elect met with the Provincial executive and Diocesan presidents to discuss items of interest to CWL on a provincial level and to bring information back to our diocese.

Convention planning is in full swing at all levels. Registration packages for our diocesan convention have gone out to the parishes in the mid-winter meeting packages, and will also be available on the St. Paul Diocesan CWL website shortly. We have changed the dates for our convention to April 9 & 10, 2010 due to a conflict with another important diocesan event and at the request of the bishop's office. This year's convention business session will be on Saturday. I had hoped to present an afternoon Leadership Workshop on Friday afternoon, April 9, however due to a scheduling conflict for the facilitator this event will need to be rescheduled, possibly for our fall meeting. I encourage members to try to attend the convention if at all possible.

The Provincial Convention will be held on May 28 & 29, 2010 in Fairview, Alberta. A bus is being arranged for those who wish to travel to the convention by bus. The current planned route is leaving Calgary with stops in Red Deer, Edmonton, Westlock and Slave Lake. Other stops may be included with enough interest, however this is the general route. Registration packages should be mailed to each parish council and available on www.cwl.ab.ca shortly. Friday activities include several guest speakers and workshops. Provincial Spiritual Development Chair Gloria L. would like each council to send her a picture of their spiritual advisor; she is putting together a power point presentation to honour them at the convention.

National Convention is being held in Ottawa in August, 2010. Watch for information and registration forms in the winter issue of The Canadian League magazine.

Other items to be aware of over the coming months include the Diocesan Assembly being held on April 18, 2010 in St Paul, “The Role of the Lay Faithful in the Parish in the Third Millennium” and the Celebration for the end of the Year for Priests that will be held in St. Paul on June 19, 2010. Our CWL councils have been invited to participate in this event.

April 25th will be celebrated as CWL Day of Peace and Hope in all parishes. Take this opportunity to showcase your council by assisting in the ministries at mass, passing out information and generally being visible in the parish.

“Your Time to Shine” is an initiative started in the Grouard-McLennan Diocese. Designed to give your priests and spiritual advisors their time in the spotlight, it is based on taking the time to ask your parish priest about where they are from, their families and countries. Parishes who have taken the time to get to know their priests have discovered a man with hopes and dreams just like the rest of us. This is a very worth while action, not just during the Year for Priests, but at any time. Also, remember that for priests, their ordination date is their “wedding anniversary” and along with their birth date is a good time to congratulate them.

In every diocese in the province, councils are struggling to fill executive positions and to keep members motivated and engaged. If your council is experiencing difficulties, I would like to remind you that resources are available to help you. Please feel free to give me a call or send me an e-mail at any time, and I will do my best to help.

As the 2010 Winter Olympics are about to start, I ask you to continue your prayers for all the women and children who may be subject to human trafficking. Once the games are over, this particular initiative will come to an end, but unfortunately not the problem. There is a new movie that will be shown around the province on April 24. Locations are still to be determined, but you are encouraged to try to attend if it is shown in your area. See www.callandresponse.com for more information.

Of course, this time of year is annual report time. I hope you have all sent in your reports to Lynne R., Organization Chair. At the very least, we need to have a President's report from each council for our convention book. Diocesan standing committee chairs, remember that your reports are to be to your Provincial counterparts by February 15.

In 2007, St. Paul Diocesan Council submitted a resolution entitled “Dignified Burial of Miscarried and Stillborn Fetal Loss”. This resolution was returned to Provincial for more study both in 2008 and 2009. Provincial Resolution and Legislation Chairperson, Dorothy J. has done more research and concluded that since this resolution was originally submitted, significant gains have been made in this area. Therefore the resolution will not be resubmitted to national. However, we would like to ensure that all hospitals in Alberta offer the same options to bereaved parents. Therefore, we would like you to check your local hospital to determine their policies and what options are given to parents in these cases. We would also like to determine if there is a need for layettes for stillborn infants and should the CWL actively encourage our members to donate them to their local hospital? Your feedback on this issue would be appreciated.

The Canadian League magazine is looking for you to submit articles on faith, fun and fulfilment for the faith portion of the magazine. Please send your pictures and articles to National.

Check out <www.h2onews.org>. This site was developed in response to the Pope's request to use today's media options for evangelizing and promoting peace and development.

Finally, there is no easier way to learn and grow than to check out what others are doing. Please visit <www.cwl.ca>, <www.cwl.ab.ca>, and <www.stpaul.cwl.ab.ca> to see what is happening in the CWL.

Annette deB.
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October 03, 2009  CWL St. Paul Diocesan President Communique #1
Celebrating CWL in Peace with each other and Hope for the future

Firstly, I would like to congratulate St. Anne’s CWL in Thorhild on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. If any other councils are having a significant anniversary, please let me know.

In August I was privileged to attend the CWL National Convention in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Newfoundlanders do not exaggerate - they have a beautiful province.
I have included a few of the highlights of the National Convention: Fall is commonly when we actively start recruiting new members and renewing old. Don’t forget that the best way to recruit and retain new members is by personal contact. Most women wait to be asked, so step forward and do the asking! The recruiting process should continue throughout the year; every woman in the parish deserves to belong to the League. The new Recruitment Postcards are available on the National website and can be printed and distributed to the ladies in your parish. Why not have a sign up sheet with a question on what each current and prospective member would like CWL to do for them?

Permanent membership cards are being sent out to all councils. This is making processing of per capita fees slower this year. Once these membership cards are received you are asked to quote your membership number whenever you are sending information to National office. Some councils are trialling the new on-line membership process and we will be receiving more information on this. Please note that if a member in your council does not wish to receive The Canadian League magazine, you can indicate “no magazine” when you send your membership to head office. The League magazine costs about $1.00 per member.

We are reminded that this is the Year of the Priest. With the prevalence of immigrant priests, we need to educate our priests on what the CWL is, what we do, and what their role is as spiritual advisor. We also need to ask what they would like us to be doing to assist them. Why not celebrate your priest and give them a spiritual bouquet of some sort.

“Growth occurs in times of challenge.” (Fr Jim Corrigan, Provincial Spiritual Advisor) All levels of the League are experiencing difficulty filling executive positions. We may have to expand our horizons with regards to eligibility for each level. Some suggestions made at the Fall Provincial Executive meeting in September include the option of opening up eligibility for provincial office to all diocesan executive, not just presidents and not having any expiry of eligibility. If you have sat on diocesan, you would be eligible for provincial. For the diocesan level, the president could appoint a member when it is felt they would fill the duties, regardless of whether she had been a parish president. The only exception would be for the president-elect positions, as it was felt a certain level of experience was required to hold that position. I would appreciate your opinions on this issue, and if you would be interested in continuing to a higher level of CWL leadership if you did not have to be president in order to move up. Please send me an e-mail.

The five diocesan presidents have agreed that they would like to focus on Euthanasia and Palliative Care for the coming year. Please continue your action against Bill C-384, the bill brought forward by Quebec MP Francine Lalonde, and be sure to speak to your MLA on the changes to Alberta’s health care system and the closure of beds as this could significantly impact Palliative Care.

Suggested activities on Palliative Care are: Provincial Spiritual Advisor Fr Jim is going to provide a list of sites that are approved by the Catholic Church in Canada. We are reminded that many groups (Campaign Life, LifeSite, and Catholic Insight for example) do NOT speak officially for the Church. COLF is an accepted site. Please check before you use a site as a reference for church doctrine.

The 2012 National Convention will be held in Edmonton on the 100th anniversary of the CWL. Everyone should make an effort to attend a National Convention and it will never be closer than in 2012.

Reminder to all Parish councils that the annual reports need to be submitted to Lynne R., our Organization Chairperson no later than December 15. I would ask all Presidents to send in a President’s report at the very minimum; when you submit nothing we cannot tell the other levels what good things you are doing. Diocesan chairpersons appreciate getting these reports on time as we also have deadlines to submit our compilation to our Provincial counterparts.

Parish presidents, please remember to submit your information on your new members to President-elect for the province, Sheila H., to be eligible for the Father Walter Krewski Membership Award.  Information is on the website.

Finally, there is no easier way to learn and grow than to check out what others are doing. Please visit <www.cwl.ca>, <www.cwl.ab.ca>, and <www.stpaul.cwl.ab.ca> to see what is happening in the CWL.

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