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Our History: 1955-2020

Setting the Stage

We draw the history of MCCW from a compilation of many sources: an intriguing 30-page document typed by a Chaplain (Major) Harold F. Roth as an assignment for his Officer Advanced Course in 1960, a historical overview from the 2004 MCCW e-handbook, a script for the 60th anniversary celebration held at Conference (the forerunner to today’s Forum) in 2016, and more.

This history focuses on the major events in the founding and growth of MCCW.  Some of these events will feel at times both distant in their historic quaintness and at others so familiar you might be certain you are reading about today.

The Beginning

In 1946, American women and children were beginning to accompany their service members on overseas tours in greater numbers. Upon their arrival in Europe, their spiritual well-being became an added responsibility of the military chaplains.

The many formal programs, books, and offerings available today weren’t available in the late 1940s and military chapels weren’t organized in a way to provide for the religious education and formation needs of the dependents as they are today. Additionally, there were no English-speaking parochial schools available to provide for these needs. Within a few years, Catholic women’s organizations were springing up in military communities all over Europe to provide for these needs. But the efforts and offerings were inconsistent from community to community and the need for a more organized effort was clear.

In 1955, MSGR. Charles Murphy, the Vicar Delegate at Heildelberg for Cardinal Spellman (who was the Military Vicar to the Armed Forces of the United States, the predecessor to today’s Archbishop for the Military Services), appealed for help for the overseas communities. He requested that the National Council of Catholic Women in the United States send a delegate to Europe. His plea for help was heard and a group of interested military women gathered with an NCCW delegate in Berchtesgaden in 1955 to form the Military Council of Catholic Women – Europe.

The early organization was modeled on the NCCW with the purpose of promoting and aiding chapel groups in their devotion to the faith, providing standards of instruction for children’s religious education, and offering stimulus and unity to the women’s programs in Europe.

During the next year, Msgr. Murphy and the founding women traveled throughout Europe encouraging military communities to form local chapters of MCCW-E. In the fall of 1956, 75 women and a dozen priests gathered for the first annual conference in Berchtesgaden. These early annual gatherings were not intended to be a retreat, but rather training sessions for chapel leadership groups.

Over the next three years, NCCW leadership made additional visits to Europe to help the new European organization establish itself and to help form new chapel-level groups. Additional chapel groups were created in Germany as well as Italy, France, England, Spain, Morocco, and Turkey. By the beginning of the 1960s, MCCW-E had chapel-level ministries that extended to include Iceland and The Netherlands as well as areas outside Europe like Libya and across the Pacific.

Over the next decade, MCCW-E saw enormous growth with upwards of 550 women attending the annual training conferences and chapel-level groups springing up at overseas installations around the world.

The group rode the tide of several major military events, including the Vietnam War, while continuing to adapt its model of leadership and governance to the changing needs of our military women and families abroad.

MCCW-USA is Born

By the late 1960s, women who had worked so enthusiastically in chapels overseas were returning to the United States and discovering a lack of the same organization and purpose they had experienced in MCCW-E. Many expressed a desire to be a part of, or to create, a similar organization in the United States.

In August 1970, three chaplains and 18 women representing seven Army installations in the Third Army, met at Fort McPherson, Georgia to charter MCCW-Third Army. Structured along with the same guidelines as MCCW-E, the new group wrote a constitution, installed officers, and received the approval of the Military Ordinariate in quick succession.

So great was the desire for such an organization among military women, that less than a year after its conception, MCCW-Third Army received requests from an Air Force chapel to join. With the addition of Robins Air Force Base as a member, MCCW-Third Army changed its name to MCCW-Southeast.

Following the model of the European organization, MCCW-SE adopted several facets of governance modeled on the National Council for Catholic Women, held annual conferences, and sought out new chapels interested in joining the fledgling MCCW-SE.

By 1976, MCCW-SE had outgrown its regional roots and changed its name to MCCW-USA opening the doors for chapels across the United States to join. In 1980, celebrating its 10th anniversary, MCCW-USA adopted the current model of a biennial conference with regional or area events to be held during the off years.

The Military Ordinariate was restructured in 1985 to become the Archdiocese for the Military Services and in 1987, Bishop Joseph Dimino was appointed Episcopal Moderator for MCCW-USA. A year later, Archbishop Joseph T. Ryan, the first Archbishop of the AMS, endorsed MCCW-USA as the official women’s organization of the Archdiocese.

Like its sister organization in Europe, MCCW-USA continued to grow, attracting new chapels to its ranks and large numbers of women to its events.

MCCW United

Through the 1990s, MCCW-Europe and MCCW-USA continued to grow and thrive. Women, PCSing between CONUS and OCONUS locations experienced both organizations and shared ideas and best practices. But the two organizations remained separate and autonomous until 2005 when the Army Chief of Chaplains called for the two organizations to merge.

The new MCCW-Worldwide was officially unveiled at the 2006 conference, held in Atlanta, Georgia. During the following years, leadership focused on merging the two large organizations into one with support from the AMS and the Army Chief of Chaplains. MCCW became a chapel auxiliary of the Chief of Chaplains, providing the organization with administrative and financial support from the military and its Catholic chapel communities.

MCCW Today

In 2013, due to austerity measures, the Army Chief of Chaplains was tasked with dissolving all chapel auxiliaries including both MCCW and its Protestant counterpart, PWOC. Recognizing the value of the work done by the women of MCCW, the Archdiocese for the Military Services agreed to help the organization through the transition. Thanks to the hard work of the MCCW leadership, and the support of the AMS, MCCW sought and was granted legal IRS nonprofit status in 2014.

Today, MCCW continues its 60-year legacy of ministry as the official subsidiary women’s ministry of the Archdiocese for the Military Services.  Serving 220 U.S. military installations, MCCW is a globe-spanning nonprofit connecting, uniting, and inspiring all Catholic military-affiliated women wherever they might be.

Timeline

1955    MCCW founded in Europe

1971     MCCW founded in the United States

1985    Military Ordinariate restructured and becomes AMS

1988    MCCW officially endorsed by AMS

2005   MCCW Europe celebrates 50th anniversary

2006   MCCW-Europe and USA merge to become MCCW-Worldwide

2014    MCCW-Worldwide granted legal nonprofit status by the IRS

The Birthplaces of MCCW

MCCW-Europe was born in Berchtesgaden, a beautiful town in the Bavarian Alps near the Austrian border. The idyllic town played a large role in MCCW’s early years, featured as the site of many conferences during its first 40 years. 

MCCW-USA was born at the now-decommissioned Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia. Thirty-five years later, at the 2006 conference, held once again in Atlanta, the official merger of European and the USA groups was announced and MCCW-Worldwide was unveiled. 

Snapshot of MCCW

  1. 1959 Conference Theme: Behold the Handmaid of the Lord
    • Location: Berchtesgaden, Germany
    • Fun Fact: More than 320 women attended the annual gathering 
  2. 1992 Conference Theme: Together in Spirit
    • Location: San Antonio, Texas
    • Fun Fact: MCCW hosted four nationally noted keynote speakers

 

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