Church Women United board managers and members at large met last week to discuss resolutions and common goals proposed at the Ecumenical Assembly earlier this year.

For the first time, four Catholic women were invited to participate in the national session representing Christian denominations from the United States, India, Greece, Germany, and the Philippines.

Sister Claire Marie Sawyer, O.S.F., dean of sociology at Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wis., said in an interview that the protest marches sponsored by Father James E. Groppi have divided Milwaukee.

The nun, one of five Franciscan sisters living in the inner core of the city and near members of St. Boniface parish, said: “After all other methods failed, the protest marches were perhaps the only way people could communicate their frustrations to the power structure. Fear, more than anything else, has cased antagonism to Father Groppi.”

The nuns participate in the marches and assist with meetings at the church. What is the real Father Groppi like? Sister Claire Marie, said, “I find him personally to be very kind, gentle man and a man of courage. Archbishop Cousins has suffered tremendously as a result of the protests. He has lost the backing of some pastors in the diocese, and is harassed by phone calls, letters and demonstrations in front of his home.”

The first American woman auditor to attend Vatican II, Sister Mary Luke Tobin, Sister of Loretto, returned from the recent International Conference of Superior Generals in Rome to attend the sessions of the Church Women United.

In an interview, Sister Mary Luke said, “I think the position papers drawn up at the international meeting are striking and forward-looking. As for Vatican II, only in one respect is it fair to say there has been a ‘recession’ since the council. After any great push forward, there is a reaction to be expected, but it is no cause for pessimism.”

The nun said, “A period of assimilation is necessary, and there is a penetrating insight taking place within the Catholic body. This assimilation and penetration is helped by the good efforts of the Catholic press which is striving hard to bring the issues into the open and clarify them.”

“We are one in thought, though we represent many denominations,” said Miss Laura Luz Boceua, Manila, Philipines. Mrs. Monoz J. Bose, Calcutta, India, agreed with Miss Boceua the organization seeks a peaceful settlement to war, solutions to economic deprivation and racial problems.

Mrs. Bose said, “No country is an isolated island today; we are against bombings, the loss of life, and the tragic after effects of war. Concerned people meet fact to face at the peace table in a civilized way to end war and establish justice. In no sense are my remarks an indictment; they are spoken in a sense of sorrow.”

A new world is here, Mrs. Bose said, and if one is of the Christian faith, let the beliefs be translated into life—a true expression of concern and attempt to alleviate suffering. The emphasis should be on solving not only material problems, but working together toward spiritual well-being.

Among guests at the luncheon Thursday, Dec. 1 were affiliate members from Georgia churches, pastors and Father Matthew Kemp, priest-secretary of Archdiocesan Religious Unity Commission, and Father James J. Scherer, director of Catholic Social Services.