Diocese of Salt Lake City to host National Council of Catholic Women's 2023 convention

Friday, Jun. 16, 2023

SALT LAKE CITY — The National Council of Catholic Women will hold its annual convention in Salt Lake City, Aug. 23-26. In keeping with the Church’s three-year Eucharistic Revival, the convention has the theme of “Path of Renewed Encounter.” More than 400 Catholic women from across the country are expected to attend; they will focus on the Eucharist and how to encounter Christ in everyday life.

In different sessions at the convention, several Utah Catholic women will share their perspectives on living their faith. At the organization’s annual awards luncheon on Wednesday, speaker/performer Donna Stoering and her daughter Erin Nolan will share their talents in “Prayer as Music, Music as Prayer: Living a Eucharistic Life in Today’s World.” On Friday, a panel of local Catholic women — Julie Boerio-Goates, Susan Northway, Kimberly Tosti and Kim Padan — will examine “Our Encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist” and share personal experiences of building their relationship with Christ through the Eucharist.

In a Saturday session, “Encountering Forgiveness: Healing and Restoring Victims and Perpetrators of Crime,” Jean Welch Hill will talk about Catholic Social Justice Teaching and how it can be applied in helping victims and perpetrators of crime become whole again through encountering Christ. Hill is the director of the Salt Lake County Office of Criminal Justice Initiatives and former director of the Diocese of Salt Lake City Office of Life, Justice and Peace.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, will also share her organization’s mission in “From Woundedness to Healing: Restorative Approaches to Harm.”

On Wednesday evening, the women can also enjoy sessions with the conference’s Gold Sponsors. These are Catholic Relief Services – Beth Knobbe, “Answer the Call: Moving from Encounter to Action;” Cross Catholic Outreach – Tessie O’Dea, “An Encounter with Christ Among the Poor;” Holy Cross Ministries – Father Fred Jenga, CSC; and We TeachThink –  Angela Copenhaver, “Marketing that Changes a Culture.”

In the sessions sponsored by the organization’s commissions, those in attendance will hear more perspectives on the importance of the Eucharist, helping to increase membership in their councils and engaging new members in living Christian lives and building a relationship with God. A Friday evening performance by the Choristers of The Madeleine Choir School will raise funds for the school.

During the convention, Masses will be celebrated by the Most Reverend Oscar A. Solis, Bishop of Salt Lake City; the Most Reverend William A. Wack, CSC, Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee and the NCCW episcopal liaison to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; the Most Reverend Timothy Broglio, archbishop for the Military Services and the USCCB president; the Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, Bishop of Fall River, MA; and Fr. Fred Jenga, CSC, president of Holy Cross Family Ministries. 

This year for the first time, those attending the NCCW convention will have two opportunities for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. 

“Since we’re in the middle of the Eucharistic Revival, we’ve decided that we really need to be supporting and honoring what the pope and the bishops want us to do, which is renew our faith in the Real Presence,” said Patricia Voorhes, NCCW president and St. Vincent de Paul parishioner.

This year the organization is making a special effort to reach out to younger Catholic women, Voorhes said. To do this, a gathering for those 45 and younger is planned. Also, a new award, the Golden Rose, will be given to a young woman who has been very active in her parish.

“We’re trying to meet young women where they are,” Voorhes said. “We’re trying to become more like-minded with the younger women, but we need them to give us a chance and come and see what we’re all about. We’re young at heart even though we may be gray-haired.”

Salt Lake City DCCW President Barb Kerouac encourages all Catholic women to participate in the national convention. “The Spirit that is found at the NCCW Convention is captivating,” she said. “It draws you into a place where all you want is more of the same. Your spirit is uplifted, filled with joy, love; and one’s faith is empowered. We are an organization of volunteers who love to serve, educate and empower Catholic women from all over the United States.” 

“We are truly blessed to be able to have it here in our small diocese,” she said of the convention. “Last year it was hosted by the Archdiocese of Minneapolis, where there are five dioceses consisting of more than 3 million Catholics. In comparison, Salt Lake City Diocese has five deaneries consisting of 300,000 Catholics. We are small, but mighty.” 

Having the convention in Utah is a blessing for local Catholic women, Voorhes said. “Living in Utah is like the desert” for many Catholics, she said. “Just being able to be around 400 other Catholic women from all over the nation and their spiritual advisers all in one place praying and sharing together is quite a phenomenon for us here. It is an outstanding experience to be with like-minded women and men where you don’t have to explain your Catholicism. The liturgies and prayer services are beautiful – it’s a really wonderful experience.”

Voorhes is one of three local women who serves as an NCCW officer. Amy Kennedy, a Cathedral of the Madeleine parishioner, will be installed as president-elect at the convention. Jeanne Audiss, a St. Joseph the Worker parishioner, represents the diocese as San Francisco Province director.