Saint Peter parishioner holds national positions

Courtesy photo Anne Boyer

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Anne Boyer serves as liturgical assistant for the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations and is also liturgical assistant for the National Council of Catholic Women.

AMERICAN FORK – Anne Boyer just returned from overseeing eight liturgies for the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO) in the Holy Land during its centenary assembly.

WUCWO’s goal is to promote the presence, participation and co-responsibility of Catholic women in society and the Church, to enable them to fulfill their mission of evangelization and to work for human development, said Boyer, a member of Saint Peter Parish in American Fork. She was invited to serve as WUCWO’s liturgical assistant in 2009.

“I worked with Franciscan Father GianMaria Polidoro, Ecclesiastical assistant to WUCWO, to select the scriptures for each day,” said Boyer. “I also worked in close liaison with Karen Hurley, WUCWO president general, to coordinate all aspects of the Masses. Contact with the WUCWO Secretariat in Paris was a daily event as the assembly drew closer. The Masses were celebrated in the three official languages of WUCWO: English, French and Spanish.”

There were a number of challenges, Boyer said. “The liturgies were held in six different venues and there were 500 women and 13 priests from across the globe involved in planning the liturgies,” she said. “Each region was responsible for planning one liturgy and each liturgy had a distinct flavor, especially the liturgy prepared by the African region.”

The opening Mass was held in the Co Cathedral in Jerusalem, Boyer said. The principal celebrant was His Beatitude, Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. “He spoke to the WUCWO delegates about the plight of Christians in the Holy Land and said Christians of all denominations make up less than 2 percent of the population. Many of these Christians struggle economically because of social, political and religious conditions,” she said. “As a mark of solidarity, WUCWO delegates joined local Catholics in surrounding parishes for Sunday Masses that were celebrated in Arabic.”

Between meetings, she was able to visit Bethlehem and other religious sites, Boyer said. One of her most profound experiences was participating in the Stations of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa and a tour of Galilee. “This was my favorite part of the visit,” Boyer said. “I had an opportunity to serve as cantor for the Mass celebrated at the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. This will be a memory I will always cherish.”

Another highlight for her was a short boat trip on the Sea of Galilee where her group listened to the Scripture reading of the Calming of the Waters and then spent a moment of silence listening to the waves lap against the side of the boat. This was followed by the final Mass, which was celebrated in an open air setting on the Mount of Beatitudes. “This was an opportunity of a lifetime,” she said adding she will read the scriptures with new eyes after experiencing the Holy Land.”

Boyer is already working on her next assignment as liturgical assistant to the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW). In November NCCW will celebrate its 90th anniversary at the convention in Washington, D.C. The closing liturgy will be celebrated in The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Boyer began her association with NCCW in 2004 when she served as National Church Commission Chair. NCCW created the role of liturgical assistant in 2006 and asked Boyer to fill that position during national conventions and gatherings. Prior to 2004, Boyer served as the Church Commission Chair on the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women.