To vote...

...for the 2010 Catholic Women of the Year. I sit on the committee that runs this event, and every year nominations are sought from anyone and everyone who wants to put forward a name. We are looking for unsung heroines - women who serve God and neighbour, in all sorts of fields, as teachers, mothers, prison visitors, volunteers in charities and community projects, initiators of useful schemes, faithful followers of old ones...women in professional life, women caring for the elderly or sick, women doing administrative work, women artists, women in medicine, women working indoors or out of doors, women who work cheerfully and encourage others, women in politics, in business, in lots of different sorts of work. Women are nominated by friends, colleagues, neighbours. The letters that come in are touching, fascinating, sometimes amusing, sometimes suddenly haunting.

The annoncement of the CWOY for 2010 will be made in due course, after the ladies themselves have been notified. Four women are chosen each year. Last year one was Margaret Mizen, whose courage and faith following the death of her son in a random attack touched the nation. I had the privilege of meeting her and her husband Barry again the other day, and you can read the resulting interview in a forthcoming edition of the Catholic Herald...