Diocesan President, Bertha Landrie, presented a 75th Anniversary certificate St. Patrick’s President, Linda Kubinec at the 75th Anniversary Luncheon in Campbell River.
It all began 76 years ago, on October 2, 1947 – At the request of Father Fitzgerald, fourteen of the ladies of the parish met in the hospital to organize an Altar Society. The purposes were: to increase the sanctity of the members and thus further Catholic action and to raise money to build a parish church. Having no church or church hall, they met in each other’s homes and ended their meetings with delicious luncheons. They held Whist Drives and Home Cooking Sales so that, by February 1948 they had $139.95 in the bank account!! They visited the sick; sent get-well notes and condolence cards. They purchased flowers for the church at Christmas and Easter. The Altar Society was carrying as you would expect a women’s parish group to do.
The question is – Why did they join the Catholic Women’s League?
The minutes to the May 5, 1948, meeting state: “Catholic Women’s League delegates will be arriving in Campbell River May 13 for the purpose of organizing a subdivision of the CWL here.” No mention was made of who invited them or how they even knew about Campbell River. There is a suggestion that Father Fitzgerald may have had hand in this. The minutes report that he encouraged the women to attend the special meeting because he saw a need for a Diocesan instead of a Parochial unification.
There it is the answer to the question. These women had a desire to be part of something beyond the confines of the parish to connect to the world.
An example of this connection is in the September 1948 Resolution put forward by the Comox Subdivision. It addressed the lack of foster homes for Catholic children citing a lack of adequate funding for the foster-care system in general. “Be it resolved that the Catholic Women’s League in British Columbia make the strongest representations to the Provincial Government that those allowances be substantially increased to a standard more consistent to the present cost of living.”.
This is Catholic social justice in action! This is what the CWL brings to the table that no other Catholic organization in Canada can bring. We are the only Catholic group that has ability to lobby government. That is powerful!
Today, we are lobbying to protect and respect human life from conception to natural death, to project our children and the vulnerable by providing well funded mental health and palliative care, and to care for our common home by reducing food and textile waste and by protecting our water.