Written by The Diocesan Links are women appointed by their Bishop to the NBCW. In every diocese the role may be carried out differently, depending on the size of the diocese and the wishes of the Bishop or Archbishop. In this article we are introducing Arundel & Brighton’s Sue Petritz. Sue has recently increased the content of her monthly parish newsletters and created https://sueschurchpage.blogspot.com/
Sue Petritz, of Arundel & Brighton diocese:
“In 2016 I was asked by my Bishop to take over the role of Diocesan Link. I had no idea what that was and it took me a while to discover the extent of NBCW. The following year I was asked to become a representative for DLs and sit on the Executive, which I did until 2022. I put together a welcome pack for new DLs to offer guidance and I was also involved in updating the Constitution. During Covid lockdowns I started zoom sessions for DLs.
More recently, on the ‘Women in the Church’ committee, I came up with the idea of a book club. It’s been a wonderful way to reach out. I’ve also had lovely opportunities through my involvement with NBCW, going to the Andante Conference in Strasbourg and also a trip to Bucharest. Being part of NBCW really makes you feel part of the universal Church and gives you input at a European level and also to the bishops’ conference.
Women are doing things at a brilliant level, such as making representations to Parliament, to the Bishops’ Conference, sitting on European Committees…. getting involved with what’s happening in the wider Church.
I took as my motto: “to promote the presence, participation and responsibilities of Catholic women” – which is on every email and letter I send.
One key learning point in this role has been witnessing the amount of work women do for the Church that goes unrecognised, sometimes even in their own parish. There are lots of women who do lots of things and take on roles that aren’t seen. In other words, if women in the Church went on strike, parishes would collapse!
A key challenge for NBCW is that people often say “I’ve never heard of it!” I always pronounce, “I’m a diocesan link” to spread awareness. I also send off monthly notices to our diocesan newsletter and additionally I send out a newsletter.
I recall meeting a woman at a gathering I went to and I encouraged her to get involved at some level. I was delighted when she was subsequently appointed as a diocesan representative for an anti-human trafficking initiative. She said it was being encouraged to do so by me that led her down that path…..that’s what I see the role of DL achieving. There are lots of women who belong to groups but there are lots of women in the pews who don’t belong to anything, so I can be that link. Lots of women may feel they’d like to be more active, or feel they have a mission, but don’t belong to any group, so don’t hear about opportunities. So if I can be that link, I love that.
I also make sure that I pursue ecumenical initiatives, particularly with women. We have to share and invite each other to our meetings and events.
I send out a monthly newsletter to all parishes by email and ask them to print it and put it on the noticeboard. This has been REALLY hard to achieve; I’ve found the best way is to have a personal contact and ask that person to print it out and display it.
Ultimately being a diocesan link is about listening, dialogue and about taking part in committee work.
In terms of the future direction of NBCW, my dream would be that every parish would have a representative who would be linked into the DL – who then links in to the NBCW, with women from all dioceses looking to take up roles on NBCW committees and seeing the organisation as a stepping stone to roles in the dioceses. Alternatively, those who have roles in the dioceses already, bringing that experience to the NBCW.
So it would be, ideally, a case of women saying “Oh, we must look and see what the NBCW is doing.” NBCW would be the one organisation that women would look to to see what is being offered….. so in other words, to become a household name in the Catholic Church!”