Association of Catholic Women withdraws from National Board of Catholic Women

Briefing. The following exchange of letters is on the ACW's website here (scroll down).

Comment: The ACW tries to be genuinely Catholic in thinking and action, and was founded to offer a counter-weight to the Catholic women's groups which had either become imbued with militant feminism, or had simply become ineffective. The fact that this organisation has felt frozen out of the National Board of Catholic Women, the official interface between Catholic women's groups and the Bishops' Conference, is indicative of the nature of the NBCW, which has been comprehensively taken over by the kind of feminist activist who sees Catholic teaching as an irrelevance, at best. The NBCW's attitude will continue to make itself felt in episcopal approval for half-baked attempts as inclusive language in the liturgy (condemned by the Vatican), the use of hordes of women 'EMHC's (condemned by the Vatican), an apologetic attitude towards the all-male diaconate and priesthood etc. etc..


Letter to ACW from the President of NBCW, Mrs Yogi Sutton

12 January 2007

Dear Madam

I write to you as President of the ACW at the unanimous request of members present at the NBCW Board meeting on 30 September 2006.

Under ‘any other business', an article written by a member of the ACW was brought to the Board's attention. As the article appeared following her attendance at the last NBCW Board meeting, I would like confirmation from you, on behalf of the ACW, that your
organisation supports the function of the NBCW as a Consultative Body of the Bishops Conference.

If you write in the affirmative, I feel it appropriate to remind you that your subscription has not been paid for two years. Membership of NBCW is £40 per year and an invoice was sent to your Treasurer in 2005 and 2006. As a member you are entitled to send one
representative to the NBCW Board meetings. I would be grateful if you would send your subscription immediately or we will assume that your membership has lapsed.

I also ask you to confirm the name of your one representative to the NBCW Board.

I look forward to receiving your written response prior to the next NBCW meeting on the 10 March 2007, so that we may address the position of the ACW within the NBCW Board.

Yours in Christ

Mrs Y Sutton
President

The President
National Board of Catholic Women

11 June 2007 - Reply to Mrs Yogi Sutton

Dear Mrs Sutton

Thank you for your letter of 12 January 2007, a copy of which I have only just received. It is very unfortunate that it must have gone astray - possibly with other letters.

We do, of course, support the function of the NBCW, as a Consultative Body of the Bishops Conference. We feel that it is immensely important for the Bishops to be informed of the specific and often local concerns of Catholic women in the sphere of support for marriage and family life, the education of children in both faith and morals, in the well-being of women in employment outside the home, as well as migrant and enslaved women and others.

Our various representatives at the Board and I have all felt, however, that in practice we have had no opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the work of the Board and therefore the Steering Committee of the Association of Catholic Women decided unanimously with regret, that we would not renew our membership.

With best wishes.

Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Josephine Robinson