Meet MCCW
Faith. Fortitude. Formation.
Founded over 70 years ago, MCCW is a worldwide Catholic organization serving military-affiliated women across all branches of service—Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Space Force, Guard, Reserve, veterans, and those who support the uniform.
While guided by a Worldwide Board, MCCW lives locally through seven global regions, where women gather, serve, and grow together.
Our mission is simple and bold:
To be the visible presence of Christ in military communities worldwide—forming women in Faith, Formation, and Fortitude.
Across continents and commands, military-affiliated Catholic women shoulder extraordinary burdens and blessings—living the Gospel in motion. They are the heart of our chapels, the strength behind our families, and the quiet force that carries faith wherever the mission leads. Through countless moves, deployments, and new beginnings, they stand as the hands and feet of Christ in every corner of the world.
At the Military Council of Catholic Women, we believe the heart of our mission is the people. Our women are the boots on the ground of the Church Militant—serving, leading, and loving with courage and grace. MCCW exists to equip them with the Faith, Formation, and Fortitude to grow as disciples, mentors, and leaders who illuminate the world with Christ’s light.
Our Mission
MCCW strives to be the visible presence of Christ in our communities.
Formed by the sacraments and sent by the Church, Catholic women are called to make Christ present in the places they live, serve, and lead.
Who We Are
The Military Council of Catholic Women (MCCW) is a Catholic apostolate serving U.S. military-affiliated women worldwide, including active-duty service members, spouses, veterans, widows, retirees, and women who support the mission of the Armed Forces.
We unite Catholic women of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, National Guard, and Reserves—those who serve in uniform and those who sustain the uniform through faith, sacrifice, and hope.
MCCW is the official Catholic women’s ministry of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS). We are spiritually shepherded by the AMS and aligned with its pastoral mission, ensuring our work remains firmly rooted in the Church and responsive to military life.
Why MCCW Matters
Military life brings constant transition—geographic separation, uncertainty, and sacrifice. MCCW is more than a ministry; it is a lifeline.
We provide continuity of faith and sisterhood across bases, continents, and deployments—ensuring Catholic women are never without formation, community, or purpose.
What We Do
MCCW forms Catholic women for mission through Faith, Formation, and Fortitude.
- Faith: Sacramental life, prayer, and Catholic identity
- Formation: Spiritual, personal, and leadership formation for military realities
- Fortitude: Courage to lead, serve, and witness—especially in seasons of challenge
Through retreats, programs, leadership development, and global community, MCCW forms women to live the Gospel boldly wherever they are sent.
Where We Serve
MCCW is a global network. Wherever the U.S. military serves—CONUS or OCONUS—MCCW women are present, building faith-filled communities rooted in the Church and connected across regions.
How We Operate
MCCW operates in partnership with the AMS. While the Archdiocese provides ecclesial oversight and pastoral guidance, MCCW delivers formation, leadership tools, and community tailored specifically to Catholic women in military life—faithful to the Church and adaptable to mission demands.
A Legacy of Faith in Motion
Founded in 1955 by Catholic women overseas, MCCW emerged from necessity, resilience, and faith. For 70 years—through war and peace, deployments and homecomings—MCCW women have sustained the Church where stability is often scarce. Our history is marked not by buildings, but by faithful presence.
Our Story
A Legacy of Faith in Motion
Celebrating 70 Years of MCCW
Founded in 1955, the Military Council of Catholic Women was born out of necessity and faith. In the years following World War II, Catholic women living overseas on U.S. military installations recognized a shared reality: frequent moves, separation from extended family, and limited access to a consistent Catholic community. Rather than allow distance or circumstance to weaken their faith, these women responded with resolve.
What began as informal chapel-based women’s groups quickly grew into an organized council—women gathering to pray, to serve, and to support military chaplains and one another wherever the mission sent them. From the beginning, MCCW was shaped by the rhythms of military life: adaptable, resilient, and rooted in Christ.
Over the decades, MCCW evolved alongside the modern military. As service expanded across continents and new branches emerged, MCCW remained a constant presence—forming women in faith, fostering leadership, and strengthening the spiritual life of military communities worldwide. Through wars and peacetime, deployments and homecomings, MCCW women have quietly sustained the Church where stability is often scarce.
Today, 70 years later, MCCW stands as the official Catholic women’s ministry of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, continuing the mission first entrusted to its founders. Generations of women—those in uniform and those who support the uniform—have carried this apostolate forward, ensuring that Catholic women in military life are never without formation, community, or purpose.
MCCW’s history is not marked by buildings or borders, but by faithful presence—women formed by the Church and sent into the world, striving to be the visible presence of Christ in the places military life calls them to serve.
As we celebrate seventy years, we honor the women who came before us, give thanks for the mission entrusted to us today, and look forward with confidence to the generations yet to come.
