Blessings and Greetings for the second month in 2018. I am back from a month in the Arizona sun and ready to focus on our Communication challenges for this year.
Pope Francis will focus on the harmful effects of “fake news” in his message for World Day of Communication May 13, 2018. In a quote from the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication; “false information contributes to creating and fueling strong polarization of opinions. Their goal is to encourage the seeking of the truth and to promote a journalism of peace and understanding. (Source Vatican radio news. (en.radiovaticana.va)
In this time of instant information, we are all challenged to share our knowledge and information in new and exciting ways.
Our Diocesan website www.cwldov.org is ready to view. We will need your ongoing support to have up-to-date content from your Councils to share. Connie Dunwoody has done a wonderful job incorporating a platform that can be viewed on pads, smartphones and computers.
As well our BC/Yukon website has also been beautifully updated. www.bc/yukoncwl.com.
Other good sources of Catholic information are EWTN and Salt and Light which are free on YouTube.
The real purpose of all these new methods of communication are to assist members and perspective members to learn what we are doing in the Catholic Women’s League.
Some Councils have created their own websites or Facebook pages: Ascensioncwl.org and St. Joseph parish Facebook page – Gerry Haywood editor are two examples.
At our Interim meeting on Tuesday March 6th at St. Edward’s Duncan; Connie will do a tutorial and workshop with our new site as well as links from the Diocese. Please bring your phones, pads or laptops they do have WIFI in the hall.
The National focus for 2018 is Mental Health. We all need to discuss this problem as it relates to our families, friends and the Community. Since this is such a broad subject it touches on almost every Chair: Health, Community Life, Christian Family Life, Communication and Education.
I urge you to form a panel with experts from the community to speak to your members and invite your parish members to share their experiences and stories.
Church of the Ascension is holding an education evening as part of their February 8th Council meeting which will be led by Maureen Dawson, Education and Health Chair and Randy Murray a Social worker with extensive experience in Mental health. I am sure you have many in your parish and Councils who would be able to do a similar speaking engagement for your Councils.
At our Diocesan Convention May 2–4th at the Comfort Inn in Victoria we will have a panel discussion on Mental health and a call to action from all Councils. Be prepared to let us know how you plan to implement this during 2018.
This year let’s focus on four objectives in Communication:
- Be informed, do your homework and verify it is from an honest source.
- Share with your members and other Councils what you are doing to support the National and Provincial initiatives. (send information to National- On the Spot (cwl.ca) as well as to Diocesan and Provincial chairs.
- Communicate with local media what your Council is doing. Invite local reporters to speaker sessions and have clear handouts they can take to form their articles.
- Continue to write to your Provincial and Federal members of Parliament on those subjects we must defend as Catholics. For example: Summer jobs not for those who defend right to life position, Abortion and end of life, Mental health included under healthcare, and many other critical issues.
I am including part of the 2018 Communication Communique from National Chair Shari Guinta which you can access on the National website cwl.ca:
... “A January 27, 2018 article in the Toronto Star, entitled Give users control over social media, feds suggest reports that the federal privacy commissioner says Canadians need better tools to protect their online reputations. The article goes on to say that Canadians should have the right to “easily delete information they’ve posted about themselves on social media and have the right to challenge information that’s illegal, inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.” I encourage you to encourage members to send and express their views to the privacy commissioner on personal privacy and freedom of information.
“Communication is necessary and important, but it should be informed and correct.”
Sandra Digras Diocesan Communication Chair – 250 954-1991 sjdigras@gmail.com