By Gretchen Keiser

Women from about 40 parishes in the archdiocese rallied together last weekend around the theme that they are called to be peacemakers in the world.

The topic for the annual convention of the Atlanta Council of Catholic Women was inspired by international events and by the call of the U.S. bishops in their 1983 pastoral on “The Challenge of Peace,” said Joan Lucas, who was chairman of the convention at the Northwest Atlanta Hilton.

But workshops and speakers examined not only the overriding question of nuclear war and the need for world peace, but also the path to peace closer to home – within the family, for example, or the search for inner space.

An urgent call for involvement was sounded by Sister Kathleen Tomlin, C.S.J., who was a speaker at the luncheon on Saturday. Saying that at one time those who died in war were those in combat, Sister Tomlin said that that perspective had changed drastically in this century. In World War I, only 5 percent of the casualties were civilians, she said, while by the time of the Vietnam conflict, over 90 percent of those killed were civilians.

She used the statistics to emphasize that in contemporary warfare women, as much as men, are “part of the battlefield.” There is an urgent need, she said, for women to bring “their intelligence, their courage and their faith” equally into the struggle for world peace.

“We must be guardians of the planet, not just our nation,” she said, arguing that Americans are poorly aware of the people of the rest of the world and need more information and contact with the wider world to combat prejudice.

Speaking to an audience of some 175 women, Sister Tomlin also urged those gathered to “make mature, moral decisions in November” elections and said several times that the right-to-life position of the church embraces a wide range of issues. When measured against the fullness of the Gospel, “there is no perfect candidate,” she said.

The complexity of the topic of peace was also mentioned by Bishop Joseph Howze of Biloxi, Miss., who was the keynote speaker at the closing banquet of the convention. Standing in front of a multicolored banner of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Bishop Howze congratulated the council for selecting the topic of peace “even though it is difficult.”

The word “peace” is so rich, Bishop Howze noted, that each year the popes have spoken of a different facet of peace on Jan. 1, World Peace Day. Bishop Howze emphasized the theme of one year, which was later adopted by the Campaign for Human Development in the U.S.: “If you want peace, work for justice.”

Although peace is a gift from God “man is never dispensed from the responsibility of seeking peace,” Bishop Howze said, emphasizing active good works and acts of love as a means to peace.

Within the family, peace does not mean the absence of disagreement, said Dr. Pat Cleveland, program director for Catholic Social Services, who led a morning workshop on “Peace in the Family.”

Much to the relief of her audience, Dr. Cleveland reassured them that “peaceful families probably argue and peaceful families definitely disagree.”

Among the qualities that she described as being signs of a healthy, peaceful family were their reactions to problems and ability to deal with difficult times, rather than an absence of difficulties.

Facing an identical set of problems, healthy families have an optimistic attitude that they will prevail against difficulties, while families that are less healthy are pessimistic about resolving problems, for example. Another sign of health, she said, is a family’s emphasis upon the present and the needs of today, rather than upon the past – the way things always used to be done – or upon the far distant future.

A third critical quality is the ability to forgive one another, Dr. Cleveland said. “It is very important to forgive your husband, your wife, your children—to forgive yourself—for being imperfect,” she said.

In discussing the relationship between a healthy, peaceful family and the wider world, Dr. Cleveland said she believes “the church and the family are types of a same structure” which can model love and acceptance to one another.

The local church can help families to become healthier by modeling a community of love, forgiveness, humor and proper authority, she said; on the other hand, a healthy family can model those qualities to a church community which is struggling and out of balance.

“I think that’s structure God set up so we could model to each other,” Dr. Cleveland said.

Her workshop was one of six during the day including those on work for peace in the church community, work in the legislative arena and faith in the workplace.

New officers were also installed for the 1984-85 year and new commission chairmen were announced. They are Anita Willoughby, Church Communities; Gail O’Brien, Community Affairs; Bertha Rucker, Family Affairs; Sandra Odendahl, International Affairs; Suzie Harbour, Organizational Services; and Joy Russ, Legislative Information. Marie Doyle was also chosen to be province director to the national council.

Mary Wells, who will remain as president for another year, said she was “very pleased” with the turnout at the convention, which swelled to nearly 200 by the closing banquet and was the largest crowd the organization has ever had at a convention.