The International Union of Catholic Women's League (IUCWL), renamed the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUCWO) in 1952, was founded in 1910 following a meeting in Brussels of representatives of League organisations from France, Germany, England, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Spain, Lorraine, Portugal, Switzerland and Uruguay.¹

When the First World War broke out, the strong bonds already forged between the members of the Union enabled them to work together to try and protect those most affected by the war. The League in Belgium sent women and children, including many orphaned and abandoned babies, directly to the League in London.² Members of the Patriotic League of French Women put their organisation at the service of their country and its allies by driving field ambulances, searching for missing persons, providing relief to prisoners and, helping to reclaim the access of military chaplains to soldiers and the wounded. In Victoria, the League provided invaluable support to our soldiers' families, some of whom were living in appalling conditions.

After the destruction and horror of the First World War, there was a worldwide yearning for peace. The international campaign for disarmament that took place between the two World Wars was one of the most substantial non-governmental campaigns ever to be undertaken.³ At the forefront of this campaign were the women of the Union. Joining with Mary Dingman's Disarmament Committee of Women's International Organisations which represented over 45 million women worldwide, the Union collected the signatures of more than 26 million Catholic women on a petition for peace.

Mrs Steenberghe-Engeringh addressing the League of Nations. © World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations

In 1932, this petition was presented at the opening of the World Disarmament Conference which had been convened in Geneva by the League of Nations. It was arguably within the power of the delegates at this Conference to fashion the pattern of world history.⁴ Mrs Steenberghe-Engheringh, the President of the Union, was the only official Catholic delegate to address the Conference. The photo that captures this moment is somewhat haunting as those delegates present seem to be paying little attention to this fearless Dutch woman who represented the strength, depth and worldwide character of the movement for peace. Tragically, the Disarmament Conference that had begun with such hope, much like the League of Nations itself, ended in dismal failure with the withdrawal of Japan from the League of Nations in March 1933 followed by Germany's withdrawal in October 1933.

Germany launched an invasion of France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands on the 10th May 1940. Members of the Union destroyed their archives in Holland on the 14th May 1940 'so that the invaders could not lay hands on them and use them to find people who had collaborated with [them].'⁵ In June 1940, the Gestapo searched the Union's offices. Dr. J.H.E.J. Hoogveld, the Union's Chaplain since 1930, was arrested and later died as a result of the ill-treatment he suffered.⁶

In the immediate aftermath of the war, Catherine Schaefer, WUCWO's representative at the United Nations, played a vital role in the campaign to have member nations accept the principle of representation by non-government bodies. The Union was also a force in the creation and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Today, WUCWO is still present in international forums as a strong voice defending the dignity of the human person.

If you would like to know more about WUCWO, please go to https://www.wucwo.org.

1. WUCWO History, March 2001, p1.
2. Margaret Fletcher, Woman's Social Work, 7 August 1919, p 11.
3. J. Kenneth Brody, The Avoidable War: Lord Cecil & The Policy Principle 1932-1935 Vol 1, 1999, p 86-89.
4. Ibid, p 86 (Per Arthur Henderson, President of the Disarmament Conference, 1932)
5. IUCWL Notebooks, February 1946.
6. WUCWO History, March 2001, p 1.