There are few things more shocking to modern ears than a woman saying that she is happy being a mother. In the past few decades, motherhood has come to be seen as a burden to be managed, an obstacle to be overcome and an unfortunate, yet inescapable, biological reality.
For Chiara Finaldi, motherhood was ‘the first and best choice’ but she soon realised that this created tension with the women of her generation. She had her first of seven children aged 20, unusually young by British standards.
When she started meeting other mothers in play groups, she was surprised to be questioned about her career plans and whether she intended to go to university. For her, motherhood had always been her deepest desire. It didn’t take long for her to realise that women ‘were all deep down despising motherhood and really wanting a life of quiet, glamour and fame’. It was this realisation, coupled with spending several months in front of the Blessed Sacrament, that inspired her to set up Catholic Mothers UK in 2015.
As the years passed, Chiara came to understand that mothers needed encouragement and support but that there was a glaring lack of groups to provide this. Non-faith-based groups, often on Facebook, seemed to actively encourage negativity about motherhood.
Catholic Mothers UK now supports around 8,000 mothers. Through it, Chiara hopes to counteract the negativity which so often surrounds motherhood. ‘Children are not a hindrance to our personal and spiritual development. In fact, they are quite the opposite.’
The apostolate therefore seeks to promote motherhood, support mothers and to create opportunities for both spiritual and personal development. This takes place through groups, events and conferences, some of which have been supported by grants from the Guild. Most recently an event took place at the Cabrini Centre in South London where dozens of families gathered to listen to talks about the importance of family life. ‘Women are the hope of the Church,’ believes Chiara, ‘if they don’t reject their life-giving nature and their unique calling to motherhood.’
With a lease about to be signed for a Catholic Mothers Centre in London and local groups springing up across the country, it is clear that Chiara’s apostolate is going from strength to strength. The fact that the number of practising Catholics in the UK is dwindling only seems to have confirmed Chiara’s commitment to her apostolate. ‘People are going back to their roots in these fast-changing times,’ she said, pointing to a return to traditional family values, often seen most clearly in children.
In her mission to help women ‘discover the beauty of our vocations to motherhood’, Chiara points to a comment made by the recently deceased philosopher Alice von Hildebrand.
‘When the time has come, nothing which is manmade will subsist. One day, all human accomplishments will be reduced to a pile of ashes. But every single child to whom a woman has given birth will live forever, for he has been given an immortal soul made to God's image and likeness.’
Read more about what Catholic Mothers is doing up and down the UK, and see how you can play a part in this promising driver of change.
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