TRACY — Women from around southwest Minnesota will be gathering at St. Mary’s Church in Tracy this weekend. They’ll be focusing on Catholic faith, but also on showing that faith in their communities, said organizers of the 2025 New Ulm Diocesan Council of Catholic Women Convention.

“Each year, we have a different focus,” said Carolyn Keller, vice president of the NUDCCW board of directors. This year, the them for the NUDCCW Convention is “Be Bold Believers.”

The convention will be held Saturday at the Church of St. Mary and St. Mary’s School in Tracy. In addition to a NUDCCW business meeting, the convention will include a morning Mass celebrated by Bishop Emeritus John M. LeVoir, and guest speakers Camille Pauley and U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad.

So far, convention organizers anticipate about 180 people would attend the convention, Keller said. While pre-registration for the convention is closed, walk-ins are accepted, she said.

Keller said the NUDCCW Convention is held in a different community each year, to help make it possible for more women to travel to attend it. The New Ulm Diocese covers an area of southern and southwest Minnesota that stretches from St. Peter in the east, to the South Dakota border in the west.

The keynote speaker and other events at the convention focus in on the idea of showing Christian faith in society. Camille Pauley is the co-founder and president of Healing the Culture, a nonprofit that works to create a pro-life culture. Pauley’s mission fit well with the mission of CCW and the convention, Keller said.

One of the precepts of CCW is to help those that are marginalized, Keller said. Human trafficking, abortion and euthanasia all harm marginalized people, she said.

In the afternoon, Finstad will hold three half-hour sessions to talk about participating in civic and legislative processes, convention organizers said. Finstad represents Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, which stretches across nearly all of southern Minnesota.

“What we’ve asked Brad to come and do is, to come in and talk to us about how we can get our legislators to listen to us,” Keller said.

At the same time that Finstad will be speaking with convention attendees, NUDCCW will also be holding sessions to provide parish Council of Catholic Women groups with tools to help them integrate with other levels of the organization.

More information on Saturday’s convention, including a schedule and registration information, is available at the NUDCCW website, nudccw.org.