Don’t miss the 48th DCCW Convention!

keynote to address ‘guiding our children through the media maze’

by Joanne Pohland

The 48th Annual Diocesan Council of Catholic Women Convention will be held this month on Saturday, April 22 at the Church of St. Catherine in Redwood Falls. The theme is "Go Into the World and Proclaim the Gospel." This year’s conference will include an opportunity to attend the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre on Tuesday, June 13 and there will even be a special drawing for first-time attendees!

Chris Codden, director of the Office of Marriage & Family for the Diocese of St. Cloud, will be the keynote speaker. Codden is a regional representative and board member of the National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers. She has been speaking to students for over twenty years on the topics of puberty, the Church’s teachings on sexuality, the Sacrament of Marriage, respect life issues and the gift of life. Along with her husband, she is a speaker for the diocesan Marriage Preparation Course, trains couples in the diocese to mentor the engaged, and conducts workshops for parents. She will offer advice for guiding our children through the media maze with the wisdom of Pope John Paul II.

Registration for the day begins at 7:30 a.m. with a Continental Breakfast. Closing prayer will be at 2:30 p.m. Each of the parish presidents will be introduced.

The afternoon will feature an on-going health fair and an opportunity for questions/answers with DCCW moderator, Msgr. Eugene Lozinski. This will be an opportune time to come with questions about or clarifications needed on any Church related topic.

Bishop John C. Nienstedt will celebrate and 11:00 a.m. Mass with convention participants. Mary Karnitz of New Ulm will be installed as the new Diocesan Council of Catholic Women President.

There will once again be a collection for personal items for women's shelters as well as food for food shelves. Monetary donations will also be accepted.

Each parish DCCW president should have received all the information for this year's convention - any questions can be addressed to her.

I thank you for the opportunity to serve you as your Council of Catholic Women president, and I look forward to seeing you at the convention on April 22!

Joanne Pohland is from Glencoe.