Showing posts with label women's rights. Show all posts

Thursday, November 12, 2026

Pope Leo XIV listens and responds to Peru's challenges facing families, women and workers

Pope

Pope urges Peruvians to build a society based on respect, inclusion, solidarity

After listening to four testimonies in Lima, Pope Leo addresses challenges facing families, women, workers, and a culturally diverse society, and he calls for greater solidarity and a commitment to the common good.

Vatican News

“Let us value women! Let us protect and respect girls!” Pope Leo XIV appealed to Peruvians on Thursday, urging them to build a society rooted in solidarity, respect and the common good, as he addressed the challenges facing families, women, workers and culturally diverse communities on the first full day of his Apostolic Journey to Peru.

Addressing Peruvians on the first full day of his Apostolic Journey to their country, Pope Leo XIV called on them to build a society where everyone can live with dignity and contribute to the common good.

The Pope was speaking during a meeting focusing on “Challenges and Hopes of the Peruvian People” in Lima, in the square of the Basilica Cathedral of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist. The event, which included a musical interlude, saw him respond to questions raised by four testimonies highlighting some of the country's most pressing concerns: the difficulties facing families, the richness and challenges of cultural diversity, violence and discrimination against women, and the insecurity confronting entrepreneurs and workers.

At the beginning of his address, Pope Leo welcomed those gathered, describing himself as a brother and companion on their journey. “During these days, I wish to walk among you as John the Baptist did, bearing witness to the Light that enlightens everyone: Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” he said.

The family: a first place of welcome

The first testimony highlighted the pressures facing families, including economic hardship, excessive workloads, lack of time together, digital technology, and changing traditional roles.

The Pope stressed that these challenges are interconnected and must be addressed with the human person at the centre of social, economic and political life. “At the center of every social, economic and political organization must be the human person, created in the image and likeness of God, endowed with infinite dignity and called to live in relationship with others,” he said.

He described the family as the first natural society, with rights of its own, which public institutions must recognise and protect rather than replace.

Leo XIV thanked the many mothers, aunts and grandmothers who, often facing difficulties alone, transmit faith and hope to future generations. He said he wished to offer “special thanks to these women — mothers, aunts and grandmothers — who pass on faith and sure hope to future generations with great courage through the example of their lives.”

He also acknowledged families wounded by economic problems, emigration, addictions, abuse and domestic violence, urging them not to give in to hardship. “God loves all families, especially those going through crises. To them I want to say: do not give in to difficulties,” he said, recalling the Holy Family's own experience of uncertainty, displacement and hardship.

He also warned that digital technology risks replacing genuine human interaction and exposing family members to distractions and harmful content, calling for cooperation between political leaders, educational institutions and families.

Cultural diversity as a path to reconciliation

A second testimony addressed Peru's wealth of cultures, languages and traditions, while highlighting persistent prejudice and dehumanising language.

The Pope described the country's cultural, linguistic, historical and regional plurality as a great richness. Differences, he said, should foster encounter and mutual enrichment. “It is precisely because we are different that we create ‘common-unity’ — community,” he explained.

He warned against words and behaviour that offend or judge people because of their appearance, origins or social condition, even when disguised as jokes or popular expressions. “Along with disarming our language by giving up hurtful words, we must also disarm our attitudes,” he said.

Referring to Jesus' words, “Learn from me; for I am meek and humble in heart”, Leo XIV explained that meekness is not weakness but an inner strength that moderates anger and resentment, transforming them into patience, dialogue and reconciliation.

He recalled Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo, who spread the Gospel among peoples speaking different languages and faced the challenge of fostering peaceful coexistence and communion.

Cultural diversity, he said, can become an instrument of peacemaking when people recognise those who are different as brothers and sisters deserving of respect.

Pope Leo during the meeting on challenges and hopes for the future of Peru (VATICAN MEDIA)

Protecting and valuing women

The third testimony highlighted the contrast between women's fundamental contribution to Peruvian society and the persistence of mistreatment and violence against them.

Leo XIV said women's presence, respect, and participation must be promoted in every sphere of society and the Church.

He deplored the persistence of machismo, manifested in fathers' absence from family life, abuse and violence against women. Such attitudes disregard the Christian understanding that men and women possess equal dignity and responsibility.

He also drew attention to women living in poverty and those belonging to Indigenous and Afro-Peruvian communities, who may suffer double marginalisation.

Renewing his appeal to Catholics and all people of goodwill, he issued a direct plea: “Let us value women! Let us protect and respect girls!”

He pointed to the Virgin Mary as the model of a free and strong woman, committed to authentic discipleship and the mission of the Church.

Work, entrepreneurship and the common good

The fourth testimony described the determination of Peruvians who, faced with a lack of formal employment, have created their own businesses to support their families and contribute to society.

It also highlighted the fear caused by extortion, robbery and even murder at the hands of criminal gangs operating with impunity.

In response, the Pope called on businesses to become protagonists in building the common good. “A business is a society of persons in which capital, management and labor must be ordered toward integral human development,” he said.

He stressed the responsibility of public authorities to establish a just legal framework and ensure a reasonable balance between work, rest and family life.

Society's wealth and resources, he added, must not benefit only a few, but contribute to the development of all.

Education is also essential, he said, while public policies must support families, guarantee the human and intellectual formation of students, and protect the dignity of work alongside private initiative.

A society founded on the common good

Bringing together the four themes, Leo XIV said that families, businesses, cultural diversity and the participation of women all have a role in building a society committed to the common good. Just structures, he stressed, must be accompanied by a willingness to overcome corruption, violence and individualism.

He urged Peruvians to make their homes “schools of fraternity”, their businesses “communities of dignified work and social responsibility”, and their cultural differences opportunities for encounter, so that all may contribute to a more just society founded on peace.

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Pope to brother Jesuits: roles of women changing, welcome migrants

POPE

Pope to Jesuits: Roles for women in the Vatican are changing

“La Civiltà Cattolica” publishes the full text of Pope Francis’ encounter with 150 Jesuit confreres from Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands at the Collège Saint-Michel in Brussels. During the meeting, the Pope addresses the role of women in the Church, encourages Jesuits “not to be afraid of anything,” and reiterates the call to welcome and integrate migrants.

By Salvatore Cernuzio

The theme of women and their role in the Church, which came up several times during the September 26-29 trip to Luxembourg and Belgium, was also central in Pope Francis' conversation with the 150 Jesuits he met in Brussels.

As in every apostolic journey, the took time for a private meeting with the members of the Society of Jesus. The encounter was sandwiched between a visit to the campus of the Université Catholique in Louvain and a surprise stop at the Brussels Expo Hall with 6,000 young people gathered for a vigil.

The meeting with the Jesuit brethren not only from Belgium, but also from Luxembourg and the Netherlands, took place in the Collège Saint-Michel. It was a private meeting, interspersed with questions and answers on topics related to the mission of the Society of Jesus today or on current events in the world and the Church – from secularization to inculturation, from the Synod to migration – and also with a song sung with guitar accompaniment at the opening by the superior of the Region of the Netherlands, Father Marc Desmet.

Following the usual custom, La Civiltà Cattolica has published the full text of the dialogue, in an article signed by Father Antonio Spadaro, which emphasizes its “spontaneity” and “immediacy.”

‘The Church is woman’

“The Church is woman,” Pope Francis responded to a Jesuit's question about “the difficulty of giving women a more just and adequate place in the Church.” “I see women blessed with charisms, and I do not want to limit the discussion of women’s role in the Church to the topic of ministry,” the pope clarified. “In general, he says, “masculinism and feminism are ‘market’ themes.”

The Pope emphasized that at this point in time, he is trying “more and more to bring women into the Vatican with roles of higher and higher responsibility.”

“Things are changing,” he continued. “You can see and feel it.”

Women in the Vatican

The pope recalled that the Deputy governor of the Governorate is a woman (Sister Raffaella Petrini), that the Dicastery for Integral Human Development “also has a woman as its deputy” (Sister Alessandra Smerilli), and that in the “‘team’ for the appointment of bishops” there are three women (Petrini, then Sister Yvonne Reungoat and Maria Lia Zervino, appointed in 2022 as members of the Dicastery for Bishops). “Since they are in charge of selecting candidates, things are much better,” he said, adding, “They are acute in their judgments.”

Even in the Dicastery for Consecrated Life “the deputy is a woman” (Sister Simona Brambilla, secretary) and in the Council for the Economy the deputy coordinator is a woman, Charlotte Kreuter-Kirchhoof.

“Women, in short, are entering the Vatican in roles of high responsibility: we will continue on this path. Things are working better than before,” the Pope assured his listeners.

In this context, the Pope also recalled an anecdote with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen: “We were talking about a specific problem, and I asked her, ‘But how do you handle these kinds of problems?’ She replied, ‘The same way all of us mothers do.’ Her answer gave me much to think about.”

Migrants need to be integrated

During the encounter, the Pope then addressed the issue of migration, which needs to be studied properly.

Once again, he listed the four verbs with which to articulate action for migrants: welcome, accompany, promote, integrate. If this is missing, it becomes a “serious” problem. “A migrant who is not integrated ends badly, but so does the society in which the migrant lives,” the Pope warned, recalling the 2016 attack in Belgium itself, at Zaventem airport, which cost the lives of 16 people at the hands of two terrorists affiliated with ISIS. “hat tragedy was also the result of a lack of integration.”

He added, “The Church must take seriously the work with migrants.”

An aging Europe

Coupled with this Pope Francis reiterated “one thing that is close to my heart,” the fact that “Europe has no more children, it is aging. It needs migrants in order for life to be renewed. It has now become a question of survival.”

The community more important than the priest

Not only few children, but also few vocations. The topic was raised by a religious: “How do you see the future of parish communities without priests?”

“The community is more important than the priest,” the pope responded. “The priest is a servant of the community.”

He cited the example of women religious who take on leadership roles in some parts of the world, such as the Peruvian congregation of nuns who have “their own specific mission” of going “to those situations where there is no priest. They do everything: they preach, they baptize... If a priest is eventually sent, then they go somewhere else.”

‘The Jesuit should not be afraid of anything’

Speaking of mission, the pope, looking at the context of Belgium – which is among the most secularized countries in Europe – urged members of the order of St. Ignatius not to be afraid. “the Jesuit should not be afraid of anything,” he said. “He is a man in tension between two forms of courage: courage to seek God in prayer and courage to go to the frontiers.”

As “masters” the pope points to Father Matteo Ricci, Father Roberto De Nobili, and other great missionaries who “even frightened some in the Church by their courageous action” but “set out the limits of inculturation.”

This limit must be sought in “discernment,” he said. “And it is discerned by praying.” Jesuit prayer, the Pope said, “developed in borderline, difficult situations, at the limits. This is the beautiful thing about our spirituality, taking risks.”

New forms of paganism

About the “complex phenomenon” of secularization, Pope Francis speaks of “forms of paganism”: “We do not need a statue of a pagan god to talk about paganism: the very environment, the air we breathe is a gaseous pagan god! And we must preach to this culture in terms of witness, service and faith. And from within we must do it with prayer.”

Service, he said, makes dialogue “fruitful,” but dialogue is often hindered by “strong clericalism” in the Church. “Where there is clericalism there is no service,” he continued, adding a warning, “For goodness’ sake, never confuse evangelization with proselytising!”

Intellectual apostolate

“The intellectual apostolate,” is also “important,” the said, and a part of the vocation of Jesuits who “must be present in the academia, research, and also in communication.”

“Let’s be clear,” Pope Francis said. “When the General Congregations of the Society of Jesus say to insert oneself in the lives of people and in history, it does not mean ‘making a carnival,’ but inserting oneself in even the most institutional contexts, I would like to say, with some ‘rigidity,’ in the good sense of the word. One should not always seek informality.”

Synodality, a grace

One question concerned synodality, the focus of the Synod underway at the Vatican. “Synodality is not easy, no, and sometimes this is because there are authority figures that do not bring out the dialogue aspect,” the pope said. “A pastor can make decisions by himself, but he can make them with his council. So can a bishop, and so can the pope.”

Pope Francis said he is confident that with the Synod “things will be clarified precisely by the synodal method.” He said, “Synodality in the Church is a grace! Authority is carried out in synodality.”

Causes of beatification

Finally, Pope Francis confirmed that the cause of Father Pedro Arrupe, the Spanish-born Jesuit superior general from 1965 to 1983, who has been proclaimed a Servant of God, is “open.”

“The problem is the revision of his writings,” the Pope said, explaining, that Arrupe “wrote so much, and the analysis of his texts takes time.

Regarding the cause of Henri De Lubac, another “great Jesuit,” the Pope said he does not know whether or not his cause has been introduced.

Speaking with his confreres, Pope Francis revealed what he would later announce publicly at the Mass in Brussels; namely, the initiation of the cause of King Baudouin: “I did it myself, the Pope said, “because it seems to me that we are moving in that direction here.”

A transcription of the Pope’s conversation with Jesuits during his visit to Brussels can be found at the website of La Civiltà Cattolica.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Pope Francis: promote women's rights and dignity

POPE

Pope Francis highlights women's role in Church and society

Pope Francis addresses an international conference on women in the Church, and emphasises the importance of recognising women's contributions while calling for unity and education to promote women's rights and dignity.

By Francesca Merlo

In his address to the participants of the International Conference titled "Women in the Church: Builders of Humanity," Pope Francis extended a warm greeting to all attendees, expressing gratitude for their presence and the organisation of the event.

"The Church needs to keep this in mind, because the Church is herself a woman: a daughter, a bride, and a mother," said the Pope.

He highlighted the significance of recognising and valuing women's contributions within the people of God, and he called for unity, discernment, and collaboration to achieve this goal.

The conference, which gathers individuals from all over the world, focuses on highlighting the exemplary holiness of ten women: Josephine Bakhita, Magdeleine de Jesus, Elizabeth Ann Seton, Mary MacKillop, Laura Montoya, Kateri Tekakwitha, Teresa of Calcutta, Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès, Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi, and Daphrose Mukasanga.

Pope Francis underscored the significance of their charitable, educational, and prayerful initiatives, which exemplify the unique reflection of God's holiness through the feminine genius.

"The contribution of women is more necessary than ever," emphasised Pope Francis, acknowledging the challenges of hatred, violence, and ideological conflicts in today's world.

He spoke about the urgent need for women's contributions, which he said are characterised by tenderness and compassion, in order to foster unity and restore humanity's true identity.

On the topic of education, Pope Francis commended the collaboration between the conference and various Catholic academic institutions.

"Every effort to present students with testimonies of holiness, especially of feminine sanctity, can encourage them to aim higher," he said, stressing the importance of presenting role models to inspire future generations.

Pope Francis concluded his address by highlighting the ongoing struggles faced by women worldwide, including violence, inequality, and injustice.

He called for concerted efforts to address these issues, emphasizing the transformative power of education for girls and young women in promoting overall human development.

Bringing his address to a close, Pope Francis entrusted the outcomes of the conference to the Lord and imparted his blessing upon the participants before urging continued commitment to the advancement of women's rights and dignity.

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

The Holy See decries violence against women at the U.N.

Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, Holy See Permanent Observer to the UN in New York

VATICAN

Holy See Permanent Observer decries increasing violence against women

The Holy See's Permanent Observer to the UN in New York addresses the Security Council debating what has been achieved ahead of the 25th anniversary of Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security. He underscores how the representation of women in peace processes has gone down, while violence against women has increased.

By Alessandro Di Bussolo

The UN's work in the area of women, peace and security “cannot be successfully implemented unless the primary drivers that contribute to the worsening circumstances of women and girls,” such as wars, extremism and resources diverted to arms spending are addressed. Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Security Council itself, underscored this point in his address during the Open Debate on “Women and peace and security: Towards the 25th anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000).”

Archbishop Caccia recalled that "over the past few years, violence—including sexual violence—against women and girls has increased, while women’s representation in peace processes has declined, demonstrating that the current approach is falling short."

Resolution 1325

Approved unanimously by the UN Security Council on 31 October 2000, Resolution 1325 is the first ever measure to explicitly mention the impact of war on women and their contribution to conflict resolution for lasting peace. The Resolution sets four goals: to recognize the vital role of women in conflict prevention and resolution, to provide for their greater participation in peacekeeping and national security processes, to adopt a "gender perspective," and to train staff on women's rights.

Respect of human rights

As the 25th anniversary of Resolution 1325 approaches, Archbishop Caccia said "it is both timely and appropriate that we reassess how best to address the unique needs of women in conflict and their important role in its prevention and resolution."

The permanent observer then recalled the words of Pope Francis in his January address to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See: “'When human rights are fully recognized for all, women can offer their unique contribution to the life of society and to be the first allies of peace.' Despite this, the Pope observed that, 'in many countries, women are considered second-class citizens', facing violence, abuse and limited access to education, employment, healthcare and other basic necessities. The Holy See condemns such treatment and deplores the situation faced by many women and girls, who are systematically denied the benefit of education."

Women for peace

The Holy See's Permanent Observer also recalled that in Pope Francis' recent apostolic journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo and to South Sudan, he emphasized the potential of women in transforming violent societies into peaceful ones when women "are protected, respected, valued and honored." To unleash this potential, according to Archbishop Caccia, the UN Security Council "must ensure that women, especially 'mothers who know how life is generated and safeguarded,' receive opportunities to participate more fully in peace processes and in all facets of 'political life and decision-making processes.'"

He also noted that the primary factors contributing to the worsening conditions for women and girls, "include not only conflict—such as the abhorrent war in Ukraine and oft-forgotten conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, but also extremism and the diversion of ever more resources towards arms expenditures, including for nuclear weapons, whose effects disproportionately impact women and girls."

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