A top chaplain of the Dublin archdiocese has told African Catholic women in Ireland to “share and be enriched with different forms of expression of our faith and spirituality as Catholics and Africans in the diaspora”.
Addressing some 50 guests during the annual general meeting of the African Catholic Chaplaincy’s Catholic Women Organisation (CWO) in Tyrrelstown, west Dublin, Rev Fr Cornelius Nwogwugwu also advised them to put a special emphasis on “reflecting, deepening, and seeking concrete expressions to the challenges of the practice of our Catholic faith and parenting in the new Irish society and secularised world.”
And he urged Catholic women to use their energy well by bringing positive change and transformation to both themselves and to others around them both here in Ireland and across Africa.
In her own address, CWO interim president Maryanne Okoye called on African women to encourage their Catholic friends and relations in the archdiocese to join them.
Okoye praised the efforts of women coming together, adding that “the time is now to build the association on a solid footing”, which she said “will be achieved through committed participation” of its members.
Presenting a list of proposed activities for 2014, Okoye said they were “big plans” that would positively impact on the lives of Catholic women and their families. Among the plans are the inauguration of the CWO and possibly the launch of a uniform for the organisation.
Okoye also said the CWO would organise an official pilgrimage to Knock in the last week of September 2014, as well as a national ‘prayer crusade’ focused on Catholics in Ireland.
She added that CWO members intend to work on bringing Catholic youths into the fold to teach them “how to pray”.
During the meeting a draft constitution was presented to members. And several other speakers also addressed the event, including chair of the pastoral council Patrick Edekobi; Rev Sr Helen Ugbome; Rose Akinsanya; and Evelyn Wagner Wright, who spoke via Skype.
