By Kitt Adams

When members of the National Council of Catholic Women gathered in Jacksonville, Fla., this fall for our annual convention, the theme was “Moving Forward with Faith and Joy.” It easily could have been “The Essence of the Our Father.”

I serve as the president of the Diocese of Helena’s Council of Catholic Women, an NCCW affiliate, and had the privilege of being among the 900 women at the spiritual and scripturally based convention held Sept. 23-27. I attended with Father John Miller, moderator of the diocesan council.

The convention opened with a Mass that Bishop Victor B. Galeone of St. Augustine, Fla., concelebrated with other bishops and with priests. Bishop Galeone’s homily on the “essence” of Our Father brought tears to the eyes of many convention delegates.

The bishop spoke of three women and their ability to forgive. He named the well-known St. Therese of Lisieux and Mother Teresa. Speaking of the third woman, Bishop Galeone said the world probably never will know her name. Then he described her incredible and beautiful life of forgiveness.

Shortly after becoming bishop, he was called to visit her in a hospital as she lay dying. The woman, then more than 80 years old, was known for her charity and volunteer work that included more than 2,200 hours spent visiting patients in a Veterans Health Administration hospital.

Upon meeting the woman, Bishop Galeone commented that her loving and charitable ways were an indication that her parents had been solid Catholics. Laughing, she told him her parents “were of another religion and when I turned 18, I told my mom and dad I was going ‘church shopping.’” Her mother’s response: “As long as it is not Catholic!”

At the age of 18, the woman felt called strongly to Catholicism. She did not tell her mother, nor did she tell her about being engaged to marry a Roman Catholic man.

After a four-year engagement, the couple set a wedding date. The young woman told her mother that she had become Catholic and that she was marrying a man of the faith. The mother gave her daughter three days to get out of the house.

Over the next four years, the young woman regularly sent her mother letters and cards, and at Christmas she hand-delivered gifts to the house. The mother returned the mail, refused to open the door for her daughter and the presents were left on the doorstep.

Bishop Galeone said he asked the woman what she thought had happened to the gifts, and she replied they likely were thrown away. She added, “That does not matter. I never gave up.”

After about four years had elapsed, the young woman’s father drove to her home with word that the mother was preparing dinner, and wanted the daughter and son-in-law to join them.

The emotion Bishop Galeone felt was evident on his face and in his voice as his homily ended.

Founded in 1920 under the auspices of U.S. bishops, NCCW works to support, empower and educate Catholic women in spirituality, leadership and service.

Workshop and lecture topics at the Florida convention included parish unity; the Church in Africa; and human trafficking.

On the business side of the agenda, convention delegates discussed finance and bylaws. Patty Johnson, a nurse from Knoxville, Tenn., was elected to a two-year term as NCCW president, succeeding Bobbie Hunt of Salt Lake City. The Diocese of Helena’s Sue Porrovecchio of Bigfork was elected to the NCCW Nominating Committee. Diocese of Helena delegates to the convention also included Millie Mitchke of Bigfork, past president of the diocesan Council of Catholic Women.


Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 25, No. 10, October 16, 2009.
Published in The Montana Catholic Online, October 19, 2009.