Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “A new feminism, free from cultural burdens, that knows how to offer a Christianity of 'Yes' to God; a new feminism made of love for life, for the family, for others; a feminism guided by the queen of virtues: charity.” This was the appeal made by Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, at the conclusion of the First International Conference on “Life, Family and Development: the Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights,” which took place in the Vatican, on March 20-21 and was promoted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, along with the World Women’s Alliance for Life and Family (WWALF) and the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO).
The Holy Father Benedict XVI, in his Message to participants, praised the event as “an exemplary response to my predecessor Pope John Paul II’s call for a "new feminism" with the power to transform culture, imbuing it with a decisive respect for life.” In fact, nowadays, the Pope said, new manners are arising “in which life is compromised, particularly in its most vulnerable stages.” In light of this, Benedict XVI recalled the newness of the Gospel, the message of joy that “encourages men and women to delight in spousal love; far from stifling it, Christian faith and ethics make it healthy, strong and truly free.”
This First International Conference, which has brought together experts and representatives from women's organizations and associations, was also the first major event for the World Women's Alliance for Life and Family (WWALF), the international network created in 2006, with headquarters in Rome. Members of the group came from over 50 countries, with the objective of “promoting a feminine genius in all areas of social organization.”
Over the course of the two days of interventions and discussions, Cardinal Martino highlighted the “proposal made by Benedict XVI for a Christianity of 'Yes,': Yes to God, Father of all humanity and Creator of men and women in His image and likeness; a Christianity of Yes to life, to life in its entirety, to all lives, always, especially when it is threatened by extreme poverty, rejected and disfigured by violence and war, rejected by abortion and euthanasia, manipulated by the new technologies, amidst old and new forms of slavery, of a Christianity of the family based on a marriage of love that is unifying and fruitful, between a man and a woman, whose sexual difference is the reflection of a God who is Creative Love, in perfect rationality of love in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a Christianity of 'Yes' to women and their capacities, their capacity to give beauty to the arduous path of humanity in its cultural and historical perspectives; a Christianity of 'Yes' to trust, so that with realism and wisdom, we can evangelize with the hope that the men and women of our time are so in need of, a Christianity of 'Yes' to live, to the human person, to solidarity, and to the future.”
The modern culture which claims so-called “women's liberation,” defined by the Cardinal as an “event of the era,” requires that the “new feminism exercises a constant, patient, intelligent, and attentive Christian discernment, inspired and led by an integral and unifying humanism, firmly open to the civilization of love.”
Cardinal Martino also mentioned several distortions of modern economics, the “economic disparity that, in a scandalous manner, characterizes our world. In this field, on all levels – national and international – there is an infinite squandering of loaded words with empty promises that never go beyond mere lip service. The battle against against the new forms poverty can only be won by starting at the basis, with exemplary initiatives, such as micro-financing and micro-crediting, many of which are led by women.”
However, a “strategic line for a new feminism, which comes forth from the freeing power of the Gospel,” should be pursued, the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said. “And thus, the need to eliminate all cultural burdens – both those typical of underdevelopment as well as those of high development – which present an obstacle to the integral dignity of the woman and her fundamental rights as a person, making a constant effort for the woman in the areas of education and formation.” There are no areas in which the Christian faith cannot offer the truth. “If the salvation from God does not enter into all the areas, in the end it is expelled on all levels. This does not mean that it must invade, but that its light guarantees autonomy and freedom, placing it in the truth. There can be no new feminism without God, especially if one does not discover God as Love. (MT) (Agenzia Fides 23/3/2009)
