The Catholic Daughters of the Americas is one of the oldest and largest organizations of Catholic women in the Americas. They donate to charities, administer scholarship programs and strive “to be helping hands where there is pain, poverty, sorrow or sickness.” The CDA motto is “Unity and Charity.” The CDA was formed over 100 years ago and today numbers 95,000 dues-paying members in more than 1,400 courts (local chapters) in 45 states across the country, and in Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. Catholic Daughter women enjoy each other’s company at meetings and work hard for their parishes and communities. Deeply spiritual, together they share faith, love of God and a distinctly feminine spirituality alluded to by Pope John Paul II when he spoke of the necessity of “feminine genius” in today’s world. The program includes concerns of today’s church and society as well as issues that affect the well-being of women and children.