The National Catholic Welfare Conference and the Church-State Conflict in Mexico, 1925-1929 *
Established in 1919 to be the Catholic voice of America, to look after church interests, and to offset the political influence of the Protestant Federal Council of Churches, the National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC) was a voluntary association of the American hierarchy meeting annually in convention. It implemented decisions through an administrative committee of seven bishops which operated a secretariat, also known as the NCWC, located in Washington, D.C. This headquarters had five departments (Education, Lay Activities, Legislation, Press, and Social Action) each with a director and all under the supervision of Reverend John J. Burke, C.S.P., the general secretary of the administrative committee and its representative at the capital.