Pope Francis Praises Women while Calling for an End to Abuse of them in Society and Highlights Examples of Josephine Bakhita, Edith Stein, Teresa of Calcutta
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SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE MEETING PROMOTED BY
"STRATEGIC ALLIANCE OF CATHOLIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES" (SACRU)
AND THE CENTESIMUS ANNUS PRO PONTIFF FOUNDATION
Clementine Hall
Saturday, March 11, 2023
________________________________________
Dear friends, good morning and welcome!
I thank Prof. Tarantola and Rector Anelli for the words they have addressed to me, and I greet all of you, members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation and of the network of Catholic universities SACRU.
We meet on the occasion of the presentation of the volume More female leadership for a better world. Caring as an engine for our common home. It deals with a theme very dear to me: the importance of taking care. It was one of the first messages that I wanted to give to the Church from the beginning of my Pontificate, recalling the model of Saint Joseph, tender guardian of the Savior [1]. Tender caretaker who cares.
Before dwelling briefly on some particular aspects of the work, I would like to underline a more general one. As has been recalled, in fact, it is the result of a notable variety of contributions, collected and elaborated through the collaboration, hitherto unpublished, between some Catholic universities scattered throughout the world and an entirely lay Vatican Foundation. It is a new and significant modality, in which the richness of the contents derives from the contribution of experiences, skills, ways of feeling and different and complementary approaches. It is an example of multidisciplinarity, multiculturalism and sharing of different sensitivities: important values not only for a book, but also for a better world.
In this light, I would like to underline three aspects of caring as a contribution by women for greater inclusiveness, for greater respect for others and for facing new challenges in a new way.
First for greater inclusiveness. The book talks about the problem of discrimination that often affects women, as well as other weaker categories of society. I have forcefully reminded many times that diversity must never lead to inequality, but rather to a grateful and mutual acceptance. True wisdom, with its thousand facets, is learned and lived by walking together, and only in this way can it generate peace. Your research is therefore an invitation, thanks to women and in favor of women, not to discriminate but to integrate everyone, especially the most fragile at an economic, cultural, racial and gender level. No one should be excluded: this is a sacred principle. In fact, God the Creator's project is an "essentially inclusive" project - always - which puts precisely "the inhabitants of the existential peripheries" [2] at the centre; it is a project that, like a mother does, looks at her children as at the different fingers of her hand: inclusive, always.
Second contribution: for greater respect for the other. Every person's dignity and fundamental rights must be respected: education, work, freedom of expression, and so on. This is particularly true for women, who are more easily subject to violence and abuse. I once heard an expert in history say how the jewels that women wear came to be – women like to wear jewels, but now men too -. There was a civilization where it was the custom that the husband, when he arrived home, having many wives, if one of them did not like her, said to her: "Go away, get out!"; and she hers had to leave with what she had on, she couldn't come in and take her things, no, "you're leaving now." It is for this reason - according to that story - that women have begun to wear gold, and there would be the beginning of jewels. It's a legend, perhaps, but an interesting one. For a long time now, women have been the first waste material. This is terrible. Every person's rights must be respected.
We cannot remain silent in the face of this scourge of our time. The woman is used. Yes, here, in a city! They pay you less: well, you're a woman. Then, woe to go with a belly, because if they see you pregnant they won't give you the job; on the contrary, if they see you starting at work, they send you home. It is one of the modalities that is used today in big cities: discarding women, for example with motherhood. It is important to see this reality, it is a plague. Let us not leave without a voice women victims of abuse, exploitation, marginalization and undue pressure, such as those I mentioned with work. Let us voice their pain and forcefully denounce the injustices to which they are subjected, often in contexts that deprive them of any possibility of defense and redemption. But we also give space to their actions, naturally and powerfully sensitive and oriented towards the protection of life in every state, in every age and in every condition.
And we come to the last point: facing new challenges in a new way. The creativity. The irreplaceable specificity of women's contribution to the common good is undeniable. We already see this in Sacred Scripture, where it is often women who determine important turning points in decisive moments in the history of salvation. We think of Sarah, Rebecca, Judith, Susanna, Ruth, to culminate with Mary and the women who followed Jesus to the foot of the cross, where - we note - of the men only John was left, the others all went away. The brave ones were there: the women. In the history of the Church, then, we think of figures such as Catherine of Siena, Josephine Bakhita, Edith Stein, Teresa of Calcutta and also the women "next door", who we know with so much heroism to carry on difficult marriages, children with problems... heroics of women. Beyond the stereotypes of a certain hagiographic style, they are impressive people for their determination, courage, fidelity, ability to suffer and to transmit joy, honesty, humility, tenacity.
When in Buenos Aires I took the bus that went to a northwest sector, where there were many parishes, that bus always passed close to the prison and there was a queue of people who went to visit the prisoners that day: 90 % were women, the mothers, the mothers who never abandon their child! Mothers. And this is the strength of a woman: silent strength, but everyday. Our history is literally dotted with women like this, both famous and unknown – but not to God! – who carry forward the journey of families, societies and the Church; sometimes with problematic, vicious husbands... the children go on... We also notice it here, in the Vatican, where women who "work hard", even in roles of great responsibility, are by now many, thanks be to God. For example, from the moment that the lieutenant governor is a woman, things work better here, much better. And other places, where there are women, secretaries, the Council for the Economy, for example, there are six cardinals and six laymen, all men. It has now been renewed, two years ago, and of the laity one is a man and five are women, and it has begun to function, because they have a different capacity: the possibility of acting and also of patience. Once a manager of the working world recounted, a worker who had arrived at the head of the union, at that moment, with great authority - he had no father, only a mother, very poor, she did domestic work, they lived in a small house: the mother's dormitory, and then a small room to eat and he slept in that room, he often got drunk at night, he was 22-23 years old - he said that when his mother went out in the morning to work, to clean houses, she stopped , looked at him: he was awake but pretended not to see, that he was asleep, looked at him and went away. "And my mother's perseverance, of looking at me without reproaching me and tolerating me, changed my heart one day, and so I got where I am". Only a woman can do this; the father would have kicked him out. We have to look at the way women act: it's a great thing.
We are in a time of epochal changes, which require adequate and convincing answers. In the context of women's contribution to these processes, I would like to mention one of them: the progressive development and use of artificial intelligence and the delicate problem connected to it of the birth of new and unpredictable power dynamics. It is a scenario still largely unknown to us, in which predictions can only be conjectural and approximate. Well, women in this field have a lot to say. In fact, they know how to synthesize in a unique way, in their way of acting, three languages: that of the mind, that of the heart and that of the hands. But symphonic. The woman, when she is mature, thinks what she feels and does; she feels what she does and thinks; she does what she feels and thinks: it is a harmony. This is the genius of woman; she and she teaches men to do it, but it is the woman who arrives first at this harmony of expression, also of thinking with the three languages. It is a synthesis proper only to the human being and which the woman embodies in a marvelous way – I am not saying exclusive, marvelous and also primarily – as no machine could achieve, because she does not feel the heart of a child she is carrying beating within her, she doesn't collapse, tired and happy, next to her children's bed, she doesn't cry with pain and joy as she participates in the pains and joys of the people she loves. The husband works, sleeps and… goes on. And instead a woman does these things in a natural way, she does them in a unique way, precisely because of her ability to take care of her. For this reason, as the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council wrote, we can say that "at a time when humanity is undergoing a [...] profound transformation, women [...] can do much to help it not decline" [3].
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE MEETING PROMOTED BY
"STRATEGIC ALLIANCE OF CATHOLIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES" (SACRU)
AND THE CENTESIMUS ANNUS PRO PONTIFF FOUNDATION
Clementine Hall
Saturday, March 11, 2023
________________________________________
Dear friends, good morning and welcome!
I thank Prof. Tarantola and Rector Anelli for the words they have addressed to me, and I greet all of you, members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation and of the network of Catholic universities SACRU.
We meet on the occasion of the presentation of the volume More female leadership for a better world. Caring as an engine for our common home. It deals with a theme very dear to me: the importance of taking care. It was one of the first messages that I wanted to give to the Church from the beginning of my Pontificate, recalling the model of Saint Joseph, tender guardian of the Savior [1]. Tender caretaker who cares.
Before dwelling briefly on some particular aspects of the work, I would like to underline a more general one. As has been recalled, in fact, it is the result of a notable variety of contributions, collected and elaborated through the collaboration, hitherto unpublished, between some Catholic universities scattered throughout the world and an entirely lay Vatican Foundation. It is a new and significant modality, in which the richness of the contents derives from the contribution of experiences, skills, ways of feeling and different and complementary approaches. It is an example of multidisciplinarity, multiculturalism and sharing of different sensitivities: important values not only for a book, but also for a better world.
In this light, I would like to underline three aspects of caring as a contribution by women for greater inclusiveness, for greater respect for others and for facing new challenges in a new way.
First for greater inclusiveness. The book talks about the problem of discrimination that often affects women, as well as other weaker categories of society. I have forcefully reminded many times that diversity must never lead to inequality, but rather to a grateful and mutual acceptance. True wisdom, with its thousand facets, is learned and lived by walking together, and only in this way can it generate peace. Your research is therefore an invitation, thanks to women and in favor of women, not to discriminate but to integrate everyone, especially the most fragile at an economic, cultural, racial and gender level. No one should be excluded: this is a sacred principle. In fact, God the Creator's project is an "essentially inclusive" project - always - which puts precisely "the inhabitants of the existential peripheries" [2] at the centre; it is a project that, like a mother does, looks at her children as at the different fingers of her hand: inclusive, always.
Second contribution: for greater respect for the other. Every person's dignity and fundamental rights must be respected: education, work, freedom of expression, and so on. This is particularly true for women, who are more easily subject to violence and abuse. I once heard an expert in history say how the jewels that women wear came to be – women like to wear jewels, but now men too -. There was a civilization where it was the custom that the husband, when he arrived home, having many wives, if one of them did not like her, said to her: "Go away, get out!"; and she hers had to leave with what she had on, she couldn't come in and take her things, no, "you're leaving now." It is for this reason - according to that story - that women have begun to wear gold, and there would be the beginning of jewels. It's a legend, perhaps, but an interesting one. For a long time now, women have been the first waste material. This is terrible. Every person's rights must be respected.
We cannot remain silent in the face of this scourge of our time. The woman is used. Yes, here, in a city! They pay you less: well, you're a woman. Then, woe to go with a belly, because if they see you pregnant they won't give you the job; on the contrary, if they see you starting at work, they send you home. It is one of the modalities that is used today in big cities: discarding women, for example with motherhood. It is important to see this reality, it is a plague. Let us not leave without a voice women victims of abuse, exploitation, marginalization and undue pressure, such as those I mentioned with work. Let us voice their pain and forcefully denounce the injustices to which they are subjected, often in contexts that deprive them of any possibility of defense and redemption. But we also give space to their actions, naturally and powerfully sensitive and oriented towards the protection of life in every state, in every age and in every condition.
And we come to the last point: facing new challenges in a new way. The creativity. The irreplaceable specificity of women's contribution to the common good is undeniable. We already see this in Sacred Scripture, where it is often women who determine important turning points in decisive moments in the history of salvation. We think of Sarah, Rebecca, Judith, Susanna, Ruth, to culminate with Mary and the women who followed Jesus to the foot of the cross, where - we note - of the men only John was left, the others all went away. The brave ones were there: the women. In the history of the Church, then, we think of figures such as Catherine of Siena, Josephine Bakhita, Edith Stein, Teresa of Calcutta and also the women "next door", who we know with so much heroism to carry on difficult marriages, children with problems... heroics of women. Beyond the stereotypes of a certain hagiographic style, they are impressive people for their determination, courage, fidelity, ability to suffer and to transmit joy, honesty, humility, tenacity.
When in Buenos Aires I took the bus that went to a northwest sector, where there were many parishes, that bus always passed close to the prison and there was a queue of people who went to visit the prisoners that day: 90 % were women, the mothers, the mothers who never abandon their child! Mothers. And this is the strength of a woman: silent strength, but everyday. Our history is literally dotted with women like this, both famous and unknown – but not to God! – who carry forward the journey of families, societies and the Church; sometimes with problematic, vicious husbands... the children go on... We also notice it here, in the Vatican, where women who "work hard", even in roles of great responsibility, are by now many, thanks be to God. For example, from the moment that the lieutenant governor is a woman, things work better here, much better. And other places, where there are women, secretaries, the Council for the Economy, for example, there are six cardinals and six laymen, all men. It has now been renewed, two years ago, and of the laity one is a man and five are women, and it has begun to function, because they have a different capacity: the possibility of acting and also of patience. Once a manager of the working world recounted, a worker who had arrived at the head of the union, at that moment, with great authority - he had no father, only a mother, very poor, she did domestic work, they lived in a small house: the mother's dormitory, and then a small room to eat and he slept in that room, he often got drunk at night, he was 22-23 years old - he said that when his mother went out in the morning to work, to clean houses, she stopped , looked at him: he was awake but pretended not to see, that he was asleep, looked at him and went away. "And my mother's perseverance, of looking at me without reproaching me and tolerating me, changed my heart one day, and so I got where I am". Only a woman can do this; the father would have kicked him out. We have to look at the way women act: it's a great thing.
We are in a time of epochal changes, which require adequate and convincing answers. In the context of women's contribution to these processes, I would like to mention one of them: the progressive development and use of artificial intelligence and the delicate problem connected to it of the birth of new and unpredictable power dynamics. It is a scenario still largely unknown to us, in which predictions can only be conjectural and approximate. Well, women in this field have a lot to say. In fact, they know how to synthesize in a unique way, in their way of acting, three languages: that of the mind, that of the heart and that of the hands. But symphonic. The woman, when she is mature, thinks what she feels and does; she feels what she does and thinks; she does what she feels and thinks: it is a harmony. This is the genius of woman; she and she teaches men to do it, but it is the woman who arrives first at this harmony of expression, also of thinking with the three languages. It is a synthesis proper only to the human being and which the woman embodies in a marvelous way – I am not saying exclusive, marvelous and also primarily – as no machine could achieve, because she does not feel the heart of a child she is carrying beating within her, she doesn't collapse, tired and happy, next to her children's bed, she doesn't cry with pain and joy as she participates in the pains and joys of the people she loves. The husband works, sleeps and… goes on. And instead a woman does these things in a natural way, she does them in a unique way, precisely because of her ability to take care of her. For this reason, as the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council wrote, we can say that "at a time when humanity is undergoing a [...] profound transformation, women [...] can do much to help it not decline" [3].
With this conviction, I would therefore like to conclude our meeting by making my own the words of Saint John Paul II in Mulieris dignitatem: «The Church [...] gives thanks for all women and for each one: for mothers, sisters, wives; for consecrated women, [...] for women who work professionally, [...] for all: [...] in all the beauty and richness of their femininity» [4]. Thanks, dear friends! Congratulations on this important research and best wishes for your work. I bless you. And please I ask you to pray for me. Thank you.
[1] Cfr Omelia nella Messa di inizio del Ministero Petrino, 13 marzo 2013.
[2] Cfr Messaggio per la 108ª Giornata Mondiale del Migrante e del Rifugiato 2022, 9 maggio 2022.
[3] Messaggio del Concilio alle Donne, 8 dicembre 1965.
[4] San Giovanni Paolo II, Mulieris dignitatem, n. 31.
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