A promise made is a promise kept! Earlier this year during a meeting in my office, I made a promise to the leadership of our Atlanta Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women that I would devote one of my columns to their organizations and to the upcoming AACCW Convention. I am honored to fulfill that promise since that organization does so many wonderful things for this local Church and for its very fortunate Archbishop!

The AACCW actually represents a number of women’s organizations within the Archdiocese that pursue many different projects and objectives parochially, locally, nationally and indeed internationally. The individual organizations each have their own agendas from spiritual activities to social and pastoral initiatives. Each one of them has a special appeal to a particular group of women who might be mothers of young children or women who have completed their own adventures in raising their children and have more time to devote to projects that are of interest to them and beneficial to society. The AACCW brings them together under an umbrella association that allows them not only to interact on joint ventures but also to strengthen the works that they do so well individually.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Diocese of Belleville, and now in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, I have found the members of the Council of Catholic Women to be the most generous participants in Church life that one could ever hope to encounter. There is no task too great or too humble for them to undertake. Any pastor might wax eloquent over the splendid services that these great ladies provide for our parishes, schools, institutions and diocesan endeavors.

This year their annual convention will be held at the Wyndham Conference Center in Peachtree City this next weekend. I know that I speak for all of the members when I invite any ladies who would like to know more about this wonderful group of women to attend—even if only for a small part of the conference. I extend that invitation in a special way to the younger women of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, since the future of this organization will rest in the hands of a new generation of Catholic ladies.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Women of Faith Working for Justice.” I could not think of a more appropriate theme or of a group more dedicated to working for justice in our society. I thank them for all that they have done to build up the life of Faith in our Archdiocese for our entire 50 years of existence.

May this Jubilee Year be a time of deep and frequently expressed gratitude to all those who have worked for the building up of the Church in North Georgia—none more so than our generous and loving Women of Faith.