Pope Francis says "...Let us look at Mary as the model of a woman par excellence, who fully lives...the gift of "maternity" and the task of "caring" for her children in the Church." to Womens Group
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SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
WORLD UNION OF CATHOLIC WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS (WUCWO)
Paul VI Hall
Saturday, May 13, 2023
________________________________________
Dear sisters!
I welcome you and all those who follow the transmission from a distance, women who are part of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations, who have come from different parts of the world together with their families, to be imbued with the ecclesial spirit and to be able to return with greater enthusiasm to the places of origin. To all, I express my warmest greetings. I appreciate the interventions that have preceded me, presenting their work and the initiatives they have in hand. Thank you.
With their presence here, they want to prepare themselves to participate in the General Assembly that will be held in Assisi next week. All will be able to do so by accompanying the delegates with prayer, so that they let themselves be enlightened by the Spirit and be an opportunity to renew their missionary drive, following the original principles that moved the foundresses of the Union and, at the same time, look to the future with eyes and hearts open to the world, to listen to the laments of so many women who suffer injustice, abandonment, discrimination, poverty, or inhumane treatment in the world since they are girls in some procedures. The World Women's Observatory that they have launched will give them clues to identify the needs and thus be able to be "Samaritans", traveling companions, who bring hope and serenity to the hearts, helping, and making others help to alleviate so many needs. corporeal and spiritual humanity.
Today there is an urgent need to find peace in the world, a peace that, above all, begins within the heart, a sick heart, lacerated by the division of hatred and resentment. Along with peace, the anthropological identity of women is also in danger, since they are used as an instrument, as an argument for political disputes and cultural ideologies that ignore the beauty with which they have been created. It is necessary to value more their relationship and donation capacity, and that men better understand the richness of the reciprocity they receive towards women, to recover those anthropological elements that characterize human identity and with it, that of women and their role in the family and in society, which is still a beating heart. And if we want to know what humanity is without women, what man is without women, we have it on the first page of the Bible: it is loneliness. The man without the woman is alone. Humanity without women is alone. A culture without women is alone. Where the woman is not, there is loneliness, arid loneliness that generates sadness, and all kinds of damage to humanity. Where the woman is not, there is loneliness.
Today, when the memory of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to the little shepherds of Fatima is celebrated – and today I am also very sad, because in the Country where the Virgin appeared, a law is enacted to kill, one more step in the long list of Countries with euthanasia – today, then, thinking of the Virgin, let us look at Mary as the model of a woman par excellence, who fully lives a gift and a task: the gift of "maternity" and the task of "caring" for her children in the Church. You, as women, also have that gift and that task, in each of the areas where you are present, knowing that without you, those areas are alone. It is not good for the man to be alone, that's why the woman. María teaches them to generate life and to always protect it, relating to others with tenderness and compassion, and combining three languages: that of the mind, that of the heart and that of the hands, which have to be coordinated. What the head thinks the heart feels and the hands do; what the heart feels is in harmony with what is thought in the head and what the hands do; what the hands do is in harmony with what is felt and what is thought. I have said this on other occasions, I believe that women have the capacity to think what they feel, to feel what they think and do, and to do what they feel and think. I encourage you to continue offering that sensitivity at the service of others.
Returning to Fatima, in the midst of the silence and solitude of the fields, a kind and light-filled woman meets some poor and simple children. Like all the great things that God does, what characterizes the scene is poverty and humility. In those little shepherds we are also represented —all of humanity—, fragile little ones, and we could even say a little bewildered and frightened by the events that occur in life and that sometimes we cannot understand, because these events surpass us and we put in crisis.
In this environment marked by weakness, it is worth asking: what made Mary strong? What gave the little shepherds strength to do what she asked of them? What is the secret that turned those fragile and small people in witnesses of the joy of the Gospel? Dear sisters, the secret of all discipleship and availability for the mission lies in cultivating that union, a union from within with the "sweet guest of the soul" who always accompanies us; love for God and remaining united to Him, like the branches to the vine (cf. Jn 15, 1-11), to live —like Mary— the fullness of being a woman with the awareness of feeling chosen and protagonists in the work savior of God
But this alone is not enough. That interior union with Jesus has to be manifested on the outside, it has to be manifested by remaining in communion with the Church, with my family or with my organization, which help me to mature in the faith. This is what gives value to all the initiatives we carry out. You have to “pray” the works and “do” the prayer. In this way we are going to situate ourselves well in tune with the mission of the whole Church. This is also the essence of synodality, which makes us feel protagonist and co-responsible for the good being of the Church, to know how to integrate differences and work in ecclesial harmony.
I thank you for everything you do and I encourage you to continue forward with enthusiasm in your projects and activities in favor of evangelization, following the interior voice of the Spirit, docile to interior touches. May Jesus bless you and the Virgin take care of you and your families. I pray for the fruits of the Assembly, speak clearly, discuss, fight a little bit because it's good, that leads you forward. And I ask you, please, to continue accompanying me with your prayers. Thank you so much.
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
WORLD UNION OF CATHOLIC WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS (WUCWO)
Paul VI Hall
Saturday, May 13, 2023
________________________________________
Dear sisters!
I welcome you and all those who follow the transmission from a distance, women who are part of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations, who have come from different parts of the world together with their families, to be imbued with the ecclesial spirit and to be able to return with greater enthusiasm to the places of origin. To all, I express my warmest greetings. I appreciate the interventions that have preceded me, presenting their work and the initiatives they have in hand. Thank you.
With their presence here, they want to prepare themselves to participate in the General Assembly that will be held in Assisi next week. All will be able to do so by accompanying the delegates with prayer, so that they let themselves be enlightened by the Spirit and be an opportunity to renew their missionary drive, following the original principles that moved the foundresses of the Union and, at the same time, look to the future with eyes and hearts open to the world, to listen to the laments of so many women who suffer injustice, abandonment, discrimination, poverty, or inhumane treatment in the world since they are girls in some procedures. The World Women's Observatory that they have launched will give them clues to identify the needs and thus be able to be "Samaritans", traveling companions, who bring hope and serenity to the hearts, helping, and making others help to alleviate so many needs. corporeal and spiritual humanity.
Today there is an urgent need to find peace in the world, a peace that, above all, begins within the heart, a sick heart, lacerated by the division of hatred and resentment. Along with peace, the anthropological identity of women is also in danger, since they are used as an instrument, as an argument for political disputes and cultural ideologies that ignore the beauty with which they have been created. It is necessary to value more their relationship and donation capacity, and that men better understand the richness of the reciprocity they receive towards women, to recover those anthropological elements that characterize human identity and with it, that of women and their role in the family and in society, which is still a beating heart. And if we want to know what humanity is without women, what man is without women, we have it on the first page of the Bible: it is loneliness. The man without the woman is alone. Humanity without women is alone. A culture without women is alone. Where the woman is not, there is loneliness, arid loneliness that generates sadness, and all kinds of damage to humanity. Where the woman is not, there is loneliness.
Today, when the memory of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to the little shepherds of Fatima is celebrated – and today I am also very sad, because in the Country where the Virgin appeared, a law is enacted to kill, one more step in the long list of Countries with euthanasia – today, then, thinking of the Virgin, let us look at Mary as the model of a woman par excellence, who fully lives a gift and a task: the gift of "maternity" and the task of "caring" for her children in the Church. You, as women, also have that gift and that task, in each of the areas where you are present, knowing that without you, those areas are alone. It is not good for the man to be alone, that's why the woman. María teaches them to generate life and to always protect it, relating to others with tenderness and compassion, and combining three languages: that of the mind, that of the heart and that of the hands, which have to be coordinated. What the head thinks the heart feels and the hands do; what the heart feels is in harmony with what is thought in the head and what the hands do; what the hands do is in harmony with what is felt and what is thought. I have said this on other occasions, I believe that women have the capacity to think what they feel, to feel what they think and do, and to do what they feel and think. I encourage you to continue offering that sensitivity at the service of others.
Returning to Fatima, in the midst of the silence and solitude of the fields, a kind and light-filled woman meets some poor and simple children. Like all the great things that God does, what characterizes the scene is poverty and humility. In those little shepherds we are also represented —all of humanity—, fragile little ones, and we could even say a little bewildered and frightened by the events that occur in life and that sometimes we cannot understand, because these events surpass us and we put in crisis.
In this environment marked by weakness, it is worth asking: what made Mary strong? What gave the little shepherds strength to do what she asked of them? What is the secret that turned those fragile and small people in witnesses of the joy of the Gospel? Dear sisters, the secret of all discipleship and availability for the mission lies in cultivating that union, a union from within with the "sweet guest of the soul" who always accompanies us; love for God and remaining united to Him, like the branches to the vine (cf. Jn 15, 1-11), to live —like Mary— the fullness of being a woman with the awareness of feeling chosen and protagonists in the work savior of God
But this alone is not enough. That interior union with Jesus has to be manifested on the outside, it has to be manifested by remaining in communion with the Church, with my family or with my organization, which help me to mature in the faith. This is what gives value to all the initiatives we carry out. You have to “pray” the works and “do” the prayer. In this way we are going to situate ourselves well in tune with the mission of the whole Church. This is also the essence of synodality, which makes us feel protagonist and co-responsible for the good being of the Church, to know how to integrate differences and work in ecclesial harmony.
I thank you for everything you do and I encourage you to continue forward with enthusiasm in your projects and activities in favor of evangelization, following the interior voice of the Spirit, docile to interior touches. May Jesus bless you and the Virgin take care of you and your families. I pray for the fruits of the Assembly, speak clearly, discuss, fight a little bit because it's good, that leads you forward. And I ask you, please, to continue accompanying me with your prayers. Thank you so much.
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