During three sunny days in Poitiers over the Pentecost weekend (22-24 May 2010) 750 delegates representing 15,000 members of the Action Catholique Ouvrière (ACO) of France exchanged their experiences of life. Confronted by their faith in the liberating message of Christ's gospel they committed themselves to continue to ‘Resist' the attacks on the poorest and most vulnerable members of French society in order to give hope to the world.

‘In a world where money is the king, where anything can be bought and sold, we have to listen to the cry of men and women, to the silence of the machines created by factory closures, to the voice of working people who are losing their jobs, to the migrant workers who are being ejected from our country. When we hear and listen to these cries, are they not the cries of love from Christ for the whole of humanity that is manifesting itself.'

These powerful words where contained in the final conclusions of the ACO National Meeting, and on hearing them I felt they had some resonance here in our own country today.

This is not my first experience of the ACO National meeting and it is always a moving experience to meet again old friends and to make new ones. It is amazing that in a country where there is a clear separation between the Church and the state, what the French proudly call a lay society, that there are so many members of the ACO who are actively engaged in trades unions, politics and community groups who value the review of life where they can confront the reality of the world by a deepening of their faith in order to sustain their social engagement.

As the ACO celebrates its 60^th anniversary its message was clear, it believes that to Resist brings Hope. We have to resist a liberalism that sacrifices women and men in the name of money. Together we can resist with women and men of good will who want to construct a more just society. Together we can change the political climate to be at the service of the common good. "I know that God believes in you, and he never ceases to tell us that he will be with us until the end of time, so, yes let's hope in God who takes the side of the humiliated. He offers us a way of life where everyone has his or her place, where everyone has his or her dignity as a son or daughter of God. Yes, the ACO is foolish enough to believe, to hope and to dream that this future is possible, because we believe that life is invaluable".

With these concluding words of the National meeting it reminded me of our raison d'être as the French would say, and why we in the MCW are committed to the importance of our international dimension that we live through our membership of the World Movement of Christian Workers. And the MCW too is foolish enough to believe and to dream that a new future of justice is possible.