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Information, Suggestions and Study

Material for the Use of Local Churches

1975

Publications Office

UNITED STATES CATHOLIC CONFERENCE
1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005





(Sontents

Page

International Women’s Year:

A Commitment for the Church 1

Practical Proposals 5

Two Addresses of Pope Paul VI:
To the General Secretary of I.W.Y

Women in Society Today: To Italian Catholic Jurists

Biblical Studies:

Woman in Holy Scripture 11
The Novelty of the Evangelical Outlook on Woman 19

Marialis Cultus: Guidelines for the Study of the Apostolic Exhortation 22

The Participation of Women in the Life of the Ecclesial Community: Questions
for the Local Churches 24

The Participation of Women in the Work of Evangelization: Recommendations
made to the Synod of Bishops 28

Appendix: U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women 30

The Council Message to Women 33



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International Womens Year:

ft Commitment for the Church

We rejoice, especially on the eve of International Women’s Year, proclaimed by

the United Nations, at the ever wider participation of women in the life of society

to which they bring a specific contribution of great value. . . .

(Extract from the Message of Pope Paul VI for the Day of Peace, 1975)

For the People of God, 1975 will be a Holy Year;

for the whole human family it will be International

Women’s Year (IWY). This auspicious coincidence

may truly be interpreted as a “sign of the times.”
If the Holy Year is to be a year of renewal and

reconciliation, many and determined efforts must

indeed be encouraged among the People of God
for a renewal of the whole concept of the person

and mission of woman in the Church and in so-
ciety, and for a reconciliation of men and women,
in all fields of life, so that, in mutual respect, new

relationships may be established, based on truth,
equality, love and peace.

In the light of the Holy Year, the Church will be

able to make its own specific contribution to the
movement that is now initiated all over the world,
to regain for woman the fullness of dignity con-
ferred on her in the beginning by the Creator and

that sin and the many vicissitudes of history, have
tarnished. The more the Church helps woman,
within the People of God, to take the place and

fulfill the mission traced in the first prophetic pages

of the Bible, and later proclaimed in the Gospels,

the more it will be helping human society in a
similar effort for the promotion and liberation of

woman at the level of earthly realities.

I. WHY AN INTERNATIONAL
WOMEN’S YEAR?
On December 18, 1972, the General Assembly

of the United Nations adopted a resolution pro-

posed by the Commission on the Status of Woman:

Resolution 3010 (XXVII) which proclaimed 1975

International Women’s Year and assigned as its

aim:

a) promoting equality between men and

women;

b) ensuring the full integration of women in the
total effort for economic, social, and cultural de-

velopment at national, regional and international

levels, especially during the Second United

Nations Development Decade;

c) recognizing the importance of woman’s in-

creasing contribution to development of friendly

relations and co-operation between States and to

the strengthening of peace in the world.

One may ask the reason for this proclamation of
Women’s Year.

Originally it was an historic event: the com-

memoration of the 25th anniversary of the United

/



Nations Commission on the Status of Women:
appreciation of the work done by the Commission

during this period; and finally official recognition

of the contribution women have made to the
social, economic, political and cultural life of their

countries.

However, this commemorative event falls at a
period in time when women are becoming more
aware:

• of their dignity as full human beings,

• of their aspirations, their potential, which

they now have the opportunity to fulfill and de-
velop,

• of the force they can and do represent in

the world, for the common good of humanity,
for peace and development,

• of the responsibilities which are increasing

as their rights are more widely recognized,

• of the need for women to abandon their
still too passive mentality and adopt a more
active, more “committed” attitude.

The coincidence of these factors cannot but give

a dynamic, future-oriented character to Interna-

tional Women’s Year. Everything will not be over
on December 31, 1975! Women’s Year should not
merely be the celebration of an anniversary; that is

useful, but of secondary importance. International

Women’s Year should mark the beginning of action
for the improvement of the status of women, and at
the same time, for progress in the whole commu-
nity of mankind.

II. ORIENTATIONS AND
PROGRAMS

Equality, development and peace are, then, the

central themes of Women’s Year. Along with these
the United Nations also presented numerous sug-
gestions for action programs, which show the per-
spective in which the United Nations views

Women’s Year.

1. It is clearly stated that a long-term effort is

demanded on the part of the international commu-
nity to improve the condition of women and their
contribution to society.

2. The program, while taking as a starting point

the various demands made specifically for women,

2

tends to go beyond these and to set them in the
overall perspective of the promotion of the person

as such and the improvement of the quality of life

in the whole human community.

3. The Year should demonstrate the value of a
unified approach to issues of human rights, devel-
opment and peace, which cannot be successfully
dealt with as isolated questions distinct from each

other. It should be viewed also as an event which

concerns both men and women.

4. The word “development” is to be given a
very wide meaning: social, cultural and economic

progress, participation in the fashioning of a just

and human society. Taken in this sense it con-
cerns not only women in developing countries, but
all women. The fruit of this process of total de-
velopment should be Peace.

5. Though the activities and programs should
involve both men and women, they should par-
ticularly concern women, of all ages, walks in life,
and countries, and should stimulate their imagina-

tion and their creativity.

6. Programs and activities should be directed

towards certain specific goals:

• full equality before the law,

• equality in meeting health needs and pro-

viding social services,

• eliminating illiteracy and ensuring equality

of educational opportunity: training opportu-

nities in all fields, including citizenship and

leadership, consumerism, management, and sci-

ence and technology,

• equality of rights and responsibilities in

the family,

• equality of economic rights. Improvement

of living and working conditions, improvement

in the quality of rural life and in the status of

rural women,

• protection of working mothers. Society

and individuals should become more aware of

the social value of motherhood and endeavor to

make effective the consequences deriving from

it (vacations, leave of absence, refresher

courses),

• struggle against prostitution, and particu-

larly against its “regulation,”



• opportunity for women as well as men to
take a full part in decision-making at all levels.

Equality in the various sectors is already de-

manded in the Declaration on the Elimination of

Discrimination against Women adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly, November 7,

1967, and which at present is in process of appeal

for transformation into a Convention.

III. THE CHURCH AND
INTERNATIONAL
WOMEN’S YEAR
The Church has already recognized, in the

contemporary effort to promote the advance-

ment of woman in society, “a sign of the
times” and has seen in it a call of the Spirit.

. . . The program of International Women's

Year ... is thus not extraneous to the most

lively interest of the Church herself.

The Church, which although not of the world

works and acts in it, cannot but feel challenged by

the threefold aim of IWY. Equality, development

and peace are only “different names” for one,

unique reality: Pope Paul VI (cf. Populorum pro-

gressio and Octogesima adveniens) has made this
reality a resounding theme of his Pontificate.

Again, recently, during an audience granted to Mrs.

Helvi Sipila, Secretary General of IWY, the Holy

Father reasserted the harmony that exists between
the theme of IWY and the synthesis of the social

teaching of the Church (cf. the Address quoted

above).

In 1975, the human family will constantly be
encountering a similar action of the Church to

promote equality, development and peace, in the

light of Revelation and Redemption. The Church,

also, will find its task made easier by a new open-
ness and availability of the whole of society with

regard to these aims; but at the same time, it will
realize that it is being closely scrutinized with re-

gard to its authenticity and coherence, and there-

fore, once again, being judged.

A series of questions arise today, to which the
prophetic inspiration of the Church must find an
answer. In the light of the Gospel and with respect
for the diversity of peoples and cultures, its action
and commitment should tend towards the total
promotion of the human person, man and woman.

In this sense, what original contribution can the

Church, as People of God, make to International

Women's Year? Three basic points may be dis-
tinguished:

1. discernment of the “signs of the times”;

2. educational commitment;

3. witness of life.

1. Numerous phenomena have enabled women
today to have an ever more effective participation

in the life of society. They necessitate, on the part

of the whole community of believers, led by their

pastors, an effort of “discernment” in the light of

faith, in order to grasp the meaning of these “signs

of the times” (cf. Pacem in terris ) and better
understand God's plan for mankind and for the

world.

Let us reflect on the words of Paul VI in the

address already quoted: “Equality can only be

found in its essential foundation, which is the dig-

nity of the human person, man and woman, in their
filial relationship with God of whom they are the
visible image.”

2. The Church must support and develop cer-
tain extremely positive elements of these new
phenomena, in a Christian sense and with an in-
volvement that is mainly educational:

• a heightened degree of awareness in

woman: an awareness of her status as a person,
which can be the starting-point of progressive

personalization;

• a new sensibility to all that might offend
the dignity of the person. In this context im-

portance must be given to educational action,
for men and women, young and adult, through
the mass-media, and the “image” of woman
that they project in all sectors of society;

• greater demands for justice in society, de-
mands which tend to eliminate “with respect to
the fundamental rights of the person, every type

of discrimination, whether social or cultural,

whether based on sex, race, color, social condi-

tion, language or religion . . .” (Gaudium et Spes,

29). Christians know that all oppression has its

roots in sin, and all hope of liberation is founded

on Christ’s redemption;

• the seeking for a “quality of life” that

should be interpreted and developed as mean-

3



ing a life made more fully human through the

harmonious co-operation of men and women at

all levels.

3. Lastly, “The Church is bound to give witness

to justice.” These words are in the document

“Justice in the World” published by the Synod of

Bishops in 1971: “Action on behalf of justice and

participation in the transformation of the world

fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of

the preaching of the Gospel, or in other words, of

the Church’s mission for the redemption of the

human race and its liberation from every oppres-

sive situation.” And, when undertaking “an exami-

nation of the modes of acting and of the . . . life

style found within the Church,” the Bishops urged

“that women should have their own share of re-
sponsibilities and participation in the community

life of society and likewise of the Church.”

IV. THE SPECIFIC TASK OF
THE LOCAL CHURCH

The participation of the Catholic Church in the

effort to achieve the triple goal of IWY is a specific

task of the local Churches and should not be cast

back generically on the universal Church: both

because men and women encounter the universal
Church more immediately in the local Church, and

because, since Vatican II, the Church has called

more clearly on the faithful as individuals, and on

the particular Churches whenever divine law has to

be expressed in the life of the earthly city, that

divine law from which comes “the universal charter
of values” which can change the face of the earth

(cf. GS, 43 and 91). The Council considered the
faithful not as isolated individuals but as active

and responsible members of the local Churches
under the guidance of their pastors (GS, 91).

The priority given to the local Churches is also

a way of both respecting and promoting all the

diversity of cultures in the unity of the human
family.

In the Apostolic Letter Octogesima adveniens

(No. 4), Pope Paul VI recognizes the local

Churches as having explicit mandate:

1) to analyze with objectivity the situation

proper to their own country;

2) to shed on it the light of the Gospel from

within the living tradition of the Church;

3) to discern the options and commitments

which are called for in order to bring about the

social, political and economic changes seen in

many cases to be urgently needed.

That is why, today, the Holy Father is asking the

local Churches to live 1975, the Holy Year, also in

the dimension of International Women's Year.

V. THE MANDATE OF THE
COMMISSION ON WOMAN

Preparation of the Catholic Church’s contribu-

tion to IWY was entrusted to the temporary Study

Commission on Woman in Society and in the
Church created by Pope Paul VI in May 1973. The
Commission’s mandate was extended till the end

of January 1976 to enable it to contribute to IWY.

The Commission met for this purpose in Decem-

ber 1974, having invited the collaboration of vari-

ous departments of the Holy See and other inter-

national bodies concerned (the International

Unions of Major Religious Superiors, men and
women, the Conference of Catholic International

Organizations). It was on this occasion that the

proposals were formulated which are now sub-

mitted to the Churches to guide their reflection and

stimulate their activity.

It should be clear that the Commission's pro-

posals and the study material in the appendix are

made available to the local Churches merely by way
of suggestion. The responsible persons in the

various local Churches will decide what use to

make of them. The important point is that all the
local Churches throughout the world should act in

the same spirit and with the same aims.

4



Practical Proposals

At the level of Episcopal Conferences and Assemblies and for local Churches

METHODOLOGY

1. General principle: the operative word must be

TOGETHER:

IWY is not the year in which women take the
place of men; even less is it the year where men
yield their place to women. It is the year in which,
within the human family, men and women together
reflect, take decisions and set to work to overcome

obstacles and create adequate structures, so that

all women able to do so, may participate, with the
same standing as men, in the various manifesta-
tions, activities and responsibilities.

The Church must give the example; everything

undertaken during IWY should really be done

TOGETHER.

2. Make use of existing possibilities:

Existing bodies should be used as far as possi-

ble, integrating other men and women when neces-
sary, and renewing the aims and means.

Only when absolutely necessary, special bodies

should be created; these must be as flexible and

dynamic as possible and not strangled with red

tape.

It would be useful to start by an assessment of

all that has been done to date in the local context,

and with available material, in relation to the total

development of the human person, man and
woman.

3. Coordinate:

The responsible persons in the local Churches

should coordinate activities in such a way as to
avoid waste of energy and means. In coordination

also, the word TOGETHER must not be overlooked.

4. Create:

Let there be less creation of structures and more

of “contents” and trends. Local situations, the

need to move gradually as to time and manner,

cultural requirements, the means available, must

not at once be advanced as so many pretexts for
the least possible involvement in IWY; on the con-

trary, the more local society appears to be in need

of transformation, the more effort should be made
to open up new possibilities for the action of all in

favor of women.

PROPOSALS
Ad extra

1. Appropriate support of IWY in relations with

governments, and possible collaboration with na-

tional initiatives.

2. Support for the changing of legislation ac-

cording to a more Christian line of thought with re-

spect to woman; for instance, in relation to family

rights, the right to work, the fight against prostitu-

tion, and in particular against its “regulation.”

3. Use of mass media, assessment of programs

(radio, TV, etc.) in relation to the aims of IWY.

5



4.

Steps to ensure the presence of Christian-

minded delegates to the United Nations Confer-

ence for IWY, which will be held in Mexico from the

end of June to the beginning of July 1975.

Ad intra

1. Pastoral letters on the themes of IWY.

2. Indication of themes and circulation of ma-

terial for homilies and study groups, based on the

Word of God (“Jesus and women,” etc.), on Con-

ciliar texts (Lumen Gentium, VIII), on the Magi-
sterium (Marialis Cultus), etc.

3. Widespread circulation of a study text (ap-

pended) in the form of a questionnaire for reflec-

tion on the witness given by the ecclesial commu-
nity regarding responsible participation of women
and collaboration between men and women.

4. Meetings, study days, seminars at local, dio-

cesan, national and regional levels.

5. Ecumenical projects (consultations, etc.).

6. Initiatives of teaching nuns for the education

of women.

7. Activities in schools and colleges (boys and

girls), youth and adult movements, aimed at edu-

cating mentalities for healthy co-operation between

men and women in social life. The ways and means
should be adapted to circumstances and to the

various cultural contexts (publications, meetings,

etc.).

8. Communitarian celebrations of IWY: litur-

gical celebrations, “Days” or “Weeks,” Youth proj-

ects, etc.

9. Creation (wherever it seems opportune) by

the appropriate ecclesiastical authority, of a Com-

mission on Woman in Society and in the Church.

10. Preparation of a report of activity under-

taken for IWY. The report should reach the Holy

See before January 31st, 1976 so that an overall

evaluation may be made of the participation of the
Catholic Church in International Women's Year.

6



Tlhe Holy Fathers Wishes for

International Womens Tear
Address to the General Secretary of I.W.Y.

On November 6, 1974, the Holy Father received in audience Mrs. Helvi Sipila,

Assistant General Secretary for Social Development and Human Affairs of the
United Nations and General Secretary of I.W.Y. The following is the text of the

Pope's Address.

We very willingly greet in you, this morning, the
representative of the commitment assumed by the
United Nations for the “International Women's
Year,” proclaimed for 1975; this meeting offers

us the opportunity to express the goodwill and

attention with which we wish to follow this initiative.

In fact, the initiative does not find the Church

inattentive to the problem or lacking in a clear

desire to solve it. On the contrary: in the con-
temporary effort to promote the advancement of
woman in society, the Church has already recog-
nized “a sign of the times,” and has seen in it a

call of the Spirit. The Study Commission which we
set up, accepting a wish expressed by the 1971

Synod, has precisely received the mandate to
study, in a comparison of the aspirations of today’s

world and the enlightening doctrine of the Church,

the full participation of woman in the community
life of the Church and of society.

The program of International Women’s Year,
well summed up in the theme “equality, develop-
ment and peace,” is thus not extraneous to the
most lively interest of the Church herself.

Equality can only be found in its essential foun-

dation, which is the dignity of the human person,
man and woman, in their filial relationship with
God, of whom they are the visible image.

But this does not exclude the distinction, in

unity, and the specific contribution of woman to the
full development of society, according to her

proper and personal vocation.

In this way the woman of today will be able to
become more conscious of her rights and duties,
and will be able to contribute not only to the eleva-

tion of herself but also to a qualitative progress

of human social life, “in development and peace.”

And since the fundamental and life-giving cell
of human society remains the family, according to
the very plan of God, woman will preserve and de-
velop, principally in the family community, in full

co-responsibility with man, her task of welcoming,

giving and raising life, in a growing development of

its potential powers.

To all those collaborating in the preparation of

International Women’s Year in the most worthy

7



purpose of strengthening ever more the dignity and

mission of woman, we indicate as a solid point of
reference the figure of the Blessed Virgin. As we

stated in our recent Exhortation Marialis Cultus,

our age is called upon to verify and to “compare

its anthropological ideas and the problems spring-

ing therefrom with the figure of the Virgin Mary as

presented by the Gospel. The reading of the divine

Scriptures, carried out under the guidance of the

Holy Spirit, and with the discoveries of the human
sciences and the different situations in the world

today being taken into account, will help us to see

how Mary can be considered a mirror of the ex-

pectations of the men and women of our time . . .

(she) offers them the perfect model of the disciple

of the Lord: the disciple who builds up the earthly
and temporal city while being a diligent pilgrim

towards the heavenly and eternal city, the disciple

who works for that justice which sets free the op-
pressed and for that charity which assists the

needy; but above all, the disciple who is the active
witness of that love which builds up Christ in

people’s hearts” (37).

And with this bright vision before our eyes, we
wish the undertaking harmonious and profitable

work, upon which we invoke the intercession of the

Mother of God and the fullness of divine blessings.

8



Women in Society Today
An Address of Pope Paul VI

On December 7, 1974, the Holy Father received in Audience the participants of

the XXVth National Congress of the Union of Italian Catholic Jurists. The sub-

ject of the Congress was “Woman in present-day Italian Society."

. . . The subject you have tackled is such an

important one that it would require far greater

study and development than is possible in these

short moments. We wish, however, to, set forth
to you some thoughts, not new to you, indeed,
which may contribute to the overall and universal
view of the problem, all the more relevant today

in view of the imminence of “International

Women’s Year,” promoted by the United Nations
for 1975.

You know that the Church also and in a particu-

lar way is directly interested in questions concern-

ing the presence and role of woman in contem-
porary society, at all levels. We have set up a
special Commission for the study of woman's
problems for that very reason.

SOCIAL-CULTURAL
CHANGES
We are in fact aware, like any other observer

of contemporary events, of the process of socio-

cultural transformation which has led also to con-

siderable changes in the position and roles of

woman. The rather rapid transition from a mainly
agricultural society to a new type of society
characterized by industrialization, with the con-

sequent phenomena of urbanization, the mobility

and instability of the population, the changes in

domestic life and social relations, has placed

woman too at the center of a crisis of institutions
and morals. This crisis which is not yet resolved,

has had repercussions particularly on family rela-

tions, and on the educational mission and the very

identity of woman as such and her whole involve-
ment in social life with work, friendships, welfare

activities and relief. Even religious spirit and

consequent practice have been affected.

Today, therefore, we are faced with some far-
reaching phenomena: especially the equality of

woman and her increasing emancipation with re-
gard to man; a new conception and interpretation
of her roles as wife, mother, daughter, sister; her

growing access to professional work on a wider

and wider plane of specialization; her marked

tendency to prefer work outside the home not with-
out detriment to conjugal relations and above all

to the education of the children, emancipated too

soon from the authority of the parents, the mother

particularly.

VALUES TD CONSIDER
It is clear that not everything is to be considered

negative in this new state of affairs. On the con-
trary, it may perhaps be easier, in this context, for

9



the woman of today and tomorrow to give full
expression to all her energies. Even the erroneous

experiences of these years may be useful if the
wholesome principles of universal conscience are

recognized in society to arrive at a new equilibrium
in domestic and social life.

The real problem consists in the recognition,

the respect and, where necessary, the recovery of

these principles, which are also irreplaceable

values in the culture of an advanced people. Let

us recall them briefly. Let us mention in the first

place the functional differentiation, though identi-

cal nature, of woman as compared with man; hence
the originality of her being, her psychology, her

human and Christian vocation; and also her dignity,
which must not be degraded, as often happens

today, in morals, work, indiscriminate promiscuity,

publicity and entertainment. Let us add woman's

primacy in the whole human area in which the
problems of life, sorrow, assistance, are most

directly met with, particularly in motherhood.

These simple references to the development of

woman’s position in renewed society, could be

summed up schematically as follows.

• We certainly hope that woman will be rec-
ognized as having full civil rights, like man,

where this is not already the case;

• that the exercise of professional, social

and political functions will be made really pos-
sible for woman as for man, according to her
personal capacities;

• that the prerogatives of woman in married,
family, educational and social life will not be

ignored: on "the contrary, that they will be

honored and protected:

• that the dignity of her person and of her

status as a single woman, wife or widow will be
upheld and defended and that woman will be
given the assistance she needs, especially when
her husband is absent, disabled, imprisoned,

that is, unable to carry out this function in the

family.

RESPECT FDR WOMAN
These are all principles and values that, where

they are respected, ensure woman her real, unique

and peerless greatness. As we said on another

occasion: “For us, woman is the reflection of a
beauty that transcends her, the sign of a goodness

that seems to us boundless, the mirror of the ideal

human being, as conceived by God in his image

and likeness. For us, woman is the vision of
virginal purity, restoring the highest affective and

moral sentiments of the human heart; for us, she

is the apparition, in man’s loneliness, of his mate,

capable of the supreme dedication of love, the

resources of cooperation and assistance, the

strength of faithfulness and industry, and the

habitual heroism of sacrifice; for us she is the

mother—let us bow down before her!—the
mysterious source of human life, where nature still

receives the breath of God, the creator of the im-

mortal soul . . .; for us she is humanity, bearing

within her the best disposition for religious attrac-

tion and who when she wisely follows it, raises and

elevates herself in the most genuine expression

of femininity; and who therefore singing, praying,

longing, weeping, seems to converge naturally to-

wards a unique and supreme figure, immaculate

and sorrowful, which a privileged Woman, blessed

among all, was destined to realize the Virgin

Mother of Christ, Mary.” (To the Italian Society of

Obstetrics and Gynecology, October 29, 1966;

AAS, 8, 1966, p. 1168)

LDDK TD MARY
Far beyond the sphere of the conditions and

problems raised at the sociological level, our

apostolic ministry indicates to everyone, in a

theological and spiritual key, as a point of refer-

ence also to solve many worldly, family and social

questions, that Creature whom Christ himself, her

Son, called several times by the significant name

of “Woman.” And it encourages the woman of to-

day to look to that type of true feminine promotion,

resplendent with real beauty and spotless holiness,

as tomorrow’s feast indicates.

With these wishes, which spring from our heart,

we impart to you our blessing.

10



Woman

"Biblical Studies:

Holy Scripturein

Nothing can give a better idea of the radically

new approach taken by biblical revelation with

respect to women than a rapid comparison with
the notions current in the Middle East in ancient

times. In that region, women were generally con-
sidered as inferior beings, not as persons equal to

men. The relationship between man and woman
was viewed above all under the aspect of the

passion of love and of fecundity. 1 The Bible, on

the contrary, above all the Christian Revelation,

proclaims that man and woman are equal in the
sight of God: “they are equal as beings created by

God, and equal as children of God” (Cardinal

Marty).2

A. HUMAN BEINGS, MALE
AND FEMALE, ARE
CREATED IN THE IMAGE
F GDD

1. The equality of man and woman is taught
in the very first pages of Holy Scripture. Accord-

ing to the ancient Yahwist account of Creation

(Gen 2, 4b-25), God first formed the human being
('adam), then created the wild animals and finally

created woman. But woman belongs to a quite
different order from the animals which are simply

the “object of man’s possession and domination”

(2, 19-20). Woman, on the contrary, is created to
be near him and like himself, to be his helper,

for it is not good for man to be alone (2, 18).
When man saw his companion just close by, he ex-
claimed, “This at last is bone of my bones and
flesh of my flesh” (2, 23). For him, she was like
another self. The biblical account gives special

stress to “the mutual attachment of the two part-

ners, man and woman, who have the same nature
and an equal dignity”.3

Henceforth, they are called 'ish (man) and

'ishsha (woman). To fulfill completely his nature

and dignity as a person, a human being has to live
in communion. Man and woman fulfill their destiny
together. Not only must they fulfill each other

mutually: they are called to be “one flesh” (2,

24). The relationship between man and woman is,
therefore, expressed in terms of a mutual giving,

of total reciprocity, of communion and love.

2. The priestly account of creation (Gen 1, 1-2,

4a), which is much more recent, compares the
dignity of man and woman to that of God himself.
After the creation of the animals on the fifth day,

(1, 20-25), God completes his work on the sixth

day by creating man: “God created man in his
own image, in the image of God he created him

;

male and female he created them” (1, 27). Man,

unlike other living creatures, is created in the

image of God, in his likeness (1, 26). Just as a

son resembles his father and is his image (5, 3)

and is able to do what his father does, so man, who
is created in the image of God, shares in God’s

power: he is called to have dominion over the ani-

mals and under God, to subdue the earth (1, 26b-

28). Christian tradition developed these themes,

distinguishing “image” and “likeness”: by his

intellect and freedom, man is a personal being
“created in the image of God,” but he acquires a

“likeness” to God only to the extent to which he
enters into communion with God by grace and a life
of love.4

II



3. The relationship between man and woman,
defined as the mutual belonging of two equal per-

sons, was deeply corrupted by sin (Gen 3). This

first sin was the joint fault of the couple: both of
them, man and woman, transgressed God’s com-
mand. The consequences of their act were felt
immediately: created to live in the closest unity,

“the two accomplices, falling back on themselves,

experienced loneliness.” 5 The sign of sin is to
be lonely, isolated: Adam accused the woman (3,
12) and she blamed the serpent (3, 13). Then,
although they had always been naked without feel-

ing any shame in each other’s presence (2, 25),
they now recognized their nakedness (3, 7). “The
sentiment of shame, henceforth linked to sexuality,
is a sign of lost innocence, of the wound inflicted
on the power to love.” 6 Because of sin, the

order willed by God is seriously disturbed. Wom-
an’s love for her husband is degraded and becomes
lust and seduction; henceforth man will act as
dominator over woman: in the Old Testament, the
husband is called “ba’al,” that is, “master”; the
woman is his “property.” Both man and woman
therefore need to be redeemed, but redemption will
come only in Christ: he will bring the liberation
which will restore the original balance of God’s
work.

B. WOMEN IN THE OLD
TESTAMENT

Throughout the Old Testament, we find the fun-
damental aspects stressed in Genesis: on the one

hand, the drama involving the couple and the re-
sults of sin; on the other, the ideal of the harmony
of sexual relationships and of conjugal union in the

perspective of the Covenant.

1. In the earliest accounts, the main stress as

regards woman is on procreation. A wife is appre-
ciated above all for her fecundity. She is the one

who gives birth and thus assures descendants for
her husband who will perpetuate his lineage and
his name. The wife is considered rather as the

possession of her husband. This does not exclude

affection and love. Such is the love of Isaac for

Rebecca (Gen 24, 67) and of Jacob for Rachel (29,

20). Moreover, within the narrow limits assigned

to her in the sociological context of the ancient

East, a woman could nevertheless show her great-
ness. As wives and mothers, women can some-
times have a decisive influence on the course of

historical events. Sara, Rebecca and Rachel re-

main national figures for Israel. “If the Jews com-

monly say ‘Our father, Abraham,’ they also say,

‘Sara, our mother.’
” 7 And in Jg 5, 7, Deborah

who liberated her people is called “a mother
in Israel.”

The more recent Old Testament traditions some-

times stress the danger of women, but they also

preserve the remembrance of wonderful wives and

mothers. Such is Anna, the mother of Samuel. The

Wisdom Books warn against woman as a cause of
sin (Sir 25, 24), as a seducer (9, 1-9), as versatile

(cf. 25, 13-26, 18); but they also proclaim the

advantage of “a good wife” for her husband:

“Where there is no wife,” says Sirach, “a man will
wander about and sigh” (36, 25); “a good wife is a

great blessing; she will be granted among the
blessings of the man who fears the Lord” (26, 3).
And we know the wonderful words of praise for the
valiant woman in the Book of Proverbs (31,
10-31).

2. To several women, the Bible assigns a role

which is important and at times vital, not simply

now of wives and mothers, but with respect to com-

munity events and decisions. In the biblical and

Jewish tradition, Miriam, the sister of Moses, is

represented as someone remarkable. She takes an

active share in the “Exodus epic,” side by side with

her two brothers Moses and Aaron. After the cross-

ing of the Sea of Reeds, she leads the choir of

women and intones the passover song (Ex 15, 20-
21). The prophet Micah places her on the same
level as her two brothers. In her he sees one of the

guides of the People of God at the time of their

liberation (Mi 6, 4). Miriam is a “prophetess,” and

it is because of this that she considers herself the

equal of Moses, just as Aaron did (Nb 12, 1-2).

The reference made to Miriam’s death lays particu-
lar stress on her place in the history of her people

(Nb 20, 1).

In the time of the Judges, a woman, Deborah, is

called a “prophetess” like Miriam. “Deborah . . .

was judging Israel. . . . She used to sit in the hill

country of Ephraim and the people of Israel came
up to her for judgment” (Jg 4, 4-5). She is the one

who acts as an intermediary between Yahweh and
the war-leader Barak; she is the one who gives the
latter the order to march against Sisara with his

army. She is the one who provides the decisive
impulse (4, 14). Another woman, Jael, completes

/2



the victory after the battle by killing the enemy
leader with her own hand, while he is attempting

to escape (Jg 4, 17-22).

Another woman, Huldah, appears at another im-
portant stage in the history of Israel, at the time of

the discovery of the Law, which was used as a basis

for the reform of Josias. She too is called a

“prophetess.” She is the one consulted “concern-

ing the words of this book that has been found”

(2 R 22, 13).

Two books of a different literary genre present
female personages more directly involved in the

dramatic history of their people. The first is

Judith. In the midst of discouragement, this widow

is the one who revives the leaders’ faith in the God
of Israel. This “devout woman” (Jdt 8, 31) judges
the situation calmly, decides on the plan she has

imagined and carries it out intrepidly, thus saving

the beleaguered city (Jdt 15, 8-9). The book of
Esther also sketches the portrait of a woman who
takes on herself the destiny of her whole nation

when it is threatened with extermination and who
saves it at the risk of her own life. Stories such as
these bear witness to the fact that the often pri-

mary and sometimes decisive role that a woman
could play because of a vocation from God in the
course of history, was fully understood, as was also
the influence she could exert on events which con-

cerned the nation and the responsibility she could
be called upon to assume on behalf of the com-
munity.

On a more definite historical level than that of
the two preceding accounts, the Bible recalls the

story of an heroic Jewish mother in the person of

the mother of the seven Maccabees: “Though she
saw her seven sons perish within a single day . . .
she encouraged each of them in the language of
their fathers. Filled with a noble spirit, she fired

her woman’s reasoning with a man’s courage” (2
Mac 7, 20-21); and “last of all, the mother died
after her sons” (ibid, v 41). Involved with all her
motherly being in the struggle for the religious and
political independence of her nation, she testifies
to the eminent role of women in the spiritual
growth of the community.

3. As an additional point, the authors of the

Bible often use the symbol of a woman to represent
the People of God or the holy City. To describe the
new inhabitants of Sion after the Exile, the Book of
Isaiah compares it to a woman who gives birth (Is

66, 7). A Psalm announces that when Sion has
become the mother of all peoples, men speaking of
it will say, “this one and that one were born in her”

(Ps 87, 5). It is also under the form of a woman
that Wisdom is represented in the Wisdom Books.

C. THE COVENANT AND
THE NUPTIAL MYSTERY

1. In the writings of the great prophets, the

Covenant—the expression of man’s union with
God—takes on the privileged form of a nuptial
mystery. The chosen people is for God a spouse

whom he loves passionately. This metaphor brings
out the profound meaning of the creation of man,

male and female, and the noble significance of

sexuality. In creating the human couple, God pre-
pared mankind for the revelation of his love. Man
and woman educate each other mutually in view of
this revelation. By arousing each other’s love by

the reciprocal gift they make of themselves, they
move towards the discovery of a higher love in the

very depths of their being and in perfect equality.

In this connection, the drama of his betrayed love

prepares the prophet Hosea to understand and

denounce Israel’s unfaithfulness to her God.

In clear terms, the Bible expresses the selfless-

ness in man and woman which results from their
acknowledgment of and respect for their partner,

in his/her own being and in what differentiates

him/her. The joy and wonder resulting from this

(Gen 2, 22-24) find their fulfillment only when lust

is transcended and when both realize the sublime

love which gives each of them to the other. This is

the fundamental lesson of the book of Tobit. In it,

the communion of the two young spouses in their

equal submission to the God of the Covenant is

seen as the only thing able to conquer the power

of death which is attached to lust (Tb 8, 7).

The passionate strophes of the Song of Songs

point in the same direction.8 Love does not

withdraw itself into its own enjoyment, into a joy

which is possessive and dominating. The two be-

ings which it joins to each other take turns to invite

each other to transcend himself/herself. By bind-

ing them to each other, their love sets them free

and takes them up towards mysterious heights, by

means of a constantly recurring dialectic of union
and separation, of return and a fresh departure

(Cant 8, 14). Man and woman do not really fulfill

13



themselves except in a total respect for their equal

dignity. In a way, this respect separates them in

order to strengthen the other in his or her auton-

omy and in the perfection of his/her being; but in
reality, it unites them and makes their love spring
forth anew on a deeper level of communion. The
Old Testament, therefore, beyond sociological con-

ditions of slavery, did perceive the equal dignity of

man and woman in the search for the complete
fulfillment of their being through love. According

to several authors, this love between bride and

bridegroom is a symbol of God’s love for His peo-

ple, and of the love of Israel for its God. This was
the interpretation of the Song in Jewish and Chris-
tian tradition. Even if we see in it a song of human
love, the poem is a foreshadowing of what will
appear in its full light as a result of the revelation

of the love-relationship between Christ and the

Church.

2. The Old Testament represented the Covenant

between God and Israel in the form of a nuptial
mystery. The New Testament takes up the same
symbolism. In the person of Christ, “God and
mankind are face to face in the situation of one
spouse to another,” 9 united by the bond of love.

According to some texts in the Synoptic Gospels, it
is in this way that Jesus presents his Kingdom. He
is the bridegroom whose presence fills the heart of
his “wedding-guests”—his disciples—with joy
(Me 2, 19). The parable of the wedding feast (Mt

22, 1) and that of the ten virgins (Mt 25, 1-13) re-

peat the same imagery but with new features. In
the fourth Gospel, John the Baptist defines himself

as “the friend of the bridegroom.” He “rejoices
greatly at the bridegroom’s voice” (3, 29). The

story of the wedding feast at Cana, told early in the

same Gospel, implies a similar meaning: Jesus
there takes the place of the bridegroom, and in the

Jewish jars used for purification (which repre-

sented the old Covenant) he creates the exquisite

and super-abundant wine, a “sign” which an-

nounces the new Covenant (Jn 2, 1-11).

However, it is in St. Paul that this marriage sym-

bolism is spelled out most fully. The Apostle writes

to the Corinthians: “I betrothed you to Christ to

present you as a pure bride to her one husband” (2
Cor 11,2). In the letter to the Ephesians, he bases

his doctrine on marriage upon the mystery of the

union between Christ and the Church. According

to St. Paul, the human couple does not merely find
its model in the union between Christ and the

Church, nor is that a mere comparison to explain

the mystery; on the contrary, the couple can be

understood only in reference to the mystery; the

union between the spouses is the very expression

of this mystery. That is why the Apostle can say,
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the

Church and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5, 25),
and then comment on the text of Genesis (2, 24)
thus: “This is a great mystery, and I mean in refer-
ence to Christ and the Church” (5, 32).

The Johannine Book of Revelation takes up the

same symbolism. On the horizon of time, it sees
the end coming under the sign of the wedding of

the Lamb. History is merely a preparation for it.

It is animated and supported by a mystery of love.

Mankind purified from its faults in the blood of the

Lamb is, according to Revelation, the Bride who
makes herself ready (Rev 19, 7) for meeting the
Bridegroom.

The place occupied by this nuptial symbolism in

the New Testament shows the dignity of the human
couple in the economy of salvation. Its conjugal

reality is raised to the level of a “mystery.” As was

already foreshadowed in the Old Testament, it

educates mankind by making it ready to receive

the revelation of the covenant of love by means of

which God wants to unite it to himself. Woman
represents what the Church and mankind are in

the sight of God: like Israel before God, the Church

in relation to Christ is the Bride; for us believers,

she is our Mother.

D. WOMEN IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT

1. The way Jesus acts with respect to women
astonishes by its novelty and its daring. Con-

temporary Judaism on the whole, still judged

women with contempt; “a woman, says the Law, is
inferior to man in everything. Therefore, she must
obey, not in order to humble herself, but in order

to be guided; for it is to man that God gave the
power,” wrote Flavius Josephus (Contra Apion, II,

26). Jesus broke through the religious and social

barriers of his time and reestablished women in
their full dignity as persons equal to men.

He does not suffer himself to be stopped by the

prescriptions of the Law concerning purity, nor by

prejudice against loose-living women; he sees in

them people to be saved. After unmasking the



hypocrisy and contempt of the Pharisees and

Scribes, who want to stone the woman taken in
adultery and thus apply the Law, Jesus does not

reproach the woman, but only invites her to break
away from sin and start a new life (Jn 8, 11). To
the woman with an issue of blood who had dared
to touch the hem of his garment, Jesus declares
that her faith has made her whole (Mt 9, 22 par.).
In the house of Simon the Pharisee, when a sinful
woman washes the feet of Jesus with her tears and
anoints them with perfume, he says to the Pharisee
who is scandalized by this gesture, “Her sins are
forgiven for she loved much” (Lk 7, 47). The dis-
ciples also voice the spirit of their time when they
show their astonishment at seeing Jesus speaking
in public to a Samaritan woman (Jn 4, 27). Few
other passages in the Gospels bring out so well the
freedom of Jesus and the way he leads a woman
to the faith. He takes the Samaritan woman as she
is, with her life of sin and in her state of religious

segregation, and leads her to discover in him the

Messiah (4, 25-26); then he invites her to join

henceforth in Christian adoration in the Spirit and
truth (4, 23-34). The woman is completely
changed and runs back into the town. Thanks to
the testimony she gives, the Samaritans come to
Jesus and recognize in him the true Savior of the
world (4, 42). At first she is a sinful woman, but
then she becomes a believer and the messenger of
salvation.

When it is a question of the Kingdom, woman is
equal to man. Like him, she is invited to listen to
and observe the Word of God. That, more than her
physical motherhood, constitutes her greatness in
the eyes of Jesus (Lk 11, 27-28). Luke shows us
Mary of Bethany “sitting at the Lord's feet, listen-
ing to his words” (Lk 10, 39), in the attitude of a
disciple, whereas the custom of the Rabbis ex-
cluded women from the circle of their students.
Christian tradition has seen in this woman sitting
at Our Lord’s feet, the example and model of con-
templative life, or even of the contemplation of God
in eternal life. 10 On various occasions, Jesus
praises the faith of the women who come to him
(Lk 7, 50; 8, 48 par.). After curing the woman who
was bent over, he calls her “daughter of Abraham”
(Lk 13, 16), a title of honor which is hardly ever

applied to women in the rabbinical writings. He
praises Mary, the sister of Lazarus, for anointing

his feet with an expensive perfume, and sees in her

action a preparation for his burial (Jn 12, 1-11).

In order to describe what our behavior should be

concerning the realities of the Kingdom of God,

Jesus in his parables often takes an example from

the actions of women (Mt 13, 33 par.'; Lc 15, 8-10;
18, 1-8; Mt 25, 1-13), and he proclaims that hus-

band and wife are completely equal in marriage

(Mk 10, 2-12).

The Gospel also indicates the place of women in
the work of salvation. In the course of his ministry,

Jesus breaks with Jewish customs and, in addition

to the Twelve, admits a group of women to be with
him: “Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven
demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of
Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many
others, who provided for them out of their means”
(Lk 8, 2-3). At the raising of Lazarus, it is a

woman, Martha, who receives the announcement of
Jesus’ resurrection and who professes her faith in
it (Jn 11, 25-27). The women who accompanied
Jesus from Galilee are present on Calvary (Lk 23,

49); they observe the burial of Jesus, are there

again on the morning of the resurrection (Lk 24,

1-10). Although according to Jewish law, the wit-

ness of a woman has no juridical value, those
women are the first witnesses and messengers of
the Resurrection; the risen Jesus orders them to
take the news to the Apostles (Mt 28, 8; Lc 24, 9).
According to Jn 20, 11-18, “Mary of Magdala
would be the type of the essential female mission,

that ministry of witnessing, at a time when the
future of Christianity is at stake.” 11 If the witness

of the Apostles founds the Church, the witness of

the women nourishes the faith of the Christian
communities.

2. The early Church takes its inspiration from

the attitude of Jesus. From the beginning, women
are present in the Christian assembly: “All these

with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, to-

gether with the women and Mary the Mother of
Jesus, and with his brethren” (Acts 1, 14). Luke

underlines the part played by women who welcome
the brethren into their houses (Acts 12, 12). The

home of Lydia in Philippi is the first center of the
spread of the Gospel in Europe (Acts 15, 14-15,

40; 18, 2-3; Rom 16, 3; 1 Cor 16, 19). The book
of Acts insists on the role played by Priscilla (often

mentioned before her husband Aquila): she gives

the best example of the work of women in collab-
orating with Paul for the spread of the Gospel.

With this couple, Apollo, who was to become Paul’s

15



co-worker, completed his instruction as a Christian

(Acts 18, 26).

Finally, in the letter to the Romans we note the
greetings which Paul addresses to the women who
collaborate with him; this gives an idea of the part

played by women in that community: “I commend
to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess 12 of the

church of Cenchreae. . . . Greet Prisca and Aquila,

my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. . . . Greet Mary,
who has worked hard among you” (Rom 16, 1,3,6).

A specially impressive aspect of the life of the
early Church is the important part played by the

women’s prophetic charism. When Jesus was pre-
sented in the Temple, a prophetess, Anna, ‘‘spoke

of him to all who were looking for the liberation of
Israel” (Lk 2, 38). On Pentecost morning, Peter
proclaims: ‘‘In the last days it shall be that I will

pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy . . . and on my
menservants and my maidservants in those days I
will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy”
(Acts 2, 17-18). Philip, at Caesarea, was called the
Evangelist by reason of his missionary activity, but

‘‘he had four unmarried daughters, who proph-
esied” (Acts 21, 9). In the first centuries, there

were many prophetesses, 13 which shows that
this charism was considered one of the most

precious graces of Christian women. The Church
understood very well the importance of their role

for the renewal and deepening of the faith of the

community. 14

3. Compared with the Gospel, the teaching of

Paul may seem somewhat severe. 15 Paul asks
wives to be subject to their husbands, ‘‘for the hus-

band is the head of the wife” (Eph 5, 23); but he

first proclaims the general principle: ‘‘Be subject

to one another out of reverence for Christ” (5,

21).
16

In 1 Cor 7, 3-4, he declares emphatically

that wife and husband are equal in the exercise of

their conjugal rights. And he recognizes the right

of women to pray and prophesy in the assemblies
held for worship, ordering them even to keep their

heads covered (1 Cor 11, 2-16). Recent exegesis

interprets this ‘‘veil” of the woman in prayer more
and more as a sign of her autonomy with respect to

men when she addresses God. 17 Some texts, it
is true, impose silence on women in the assembly
(1 Cor 14, 34-35; 1 Tim 2, 11-15). 18 But these

different disciplinary measures and other similar

prescriptions were partly inspired by the Jewish

notions of the time and should not be considered

normative for subsequent periods.

The essential point is that, in an important doc-
trinal text, Paul proclaims the complete equality of

man and woman in Christ: ‘‘In Christ Jesus, you are
all sons of God through faith. For as many of you
as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.

There is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is no
longer slave nor free; there is no longer man and
woman; for you are all one in Christ” (Gal 3, 26-

28). This is one of the most ‘‘liberating” texts of
the Pauline letters. Here Paul does not write

‘‘there is no longer male nor female,” but using a

different form from what he has written earlier

(slave nor free, Jew nor Greek) he says, ‘‘there is
no longer male and female, thus referring to the
account of the Creation in which ‘‘male and

female” expressed the human being (ho anthro-
pos ) created in the image of God (Gen 1, 27); thus,
too, in the new creation (Gal 6, 15), the duality of
the sexes is assumed into the unity of the new
man: all are one in Christ; all Christians have the

same fundamental vocation, i.e., to become chil-
dren of God by faith, to become ever more conform-
able to the image of the Son of God (Rom 8, 29). 19

E. MARY, TYPE OF THE
CONDITION OF WOMEN,
MODEL OF EVANGELICAL
LIFE AND FIGURE OF
THE CHURCH

Christian tradition, ‘‘in contemplating the figure

and mission of Mary, the new Woman and the per-
fect Christian who recapitulates in herself the most
characteristic situations of woman’s life as a

Virgin, a Spouse and a Mother, has considered the

Mother of Jesus as an eminent type of the condi-

tion of women and an absolutely remarkable model
of the evangelical life.” 20

1. The three fundamental situations of spouse,

mother and virgin find an incomparable model in

Mary. She is the instrument God chooses to be-

come the Mother of the Messiah. Jesus is born of
a woman (Gal 4, 4), Joseph is Mary’s husband (Mt

1, 16). Mary is his wife (Mt 1, 20, 24). Both are

the parents of Jesus (Lk 2, 27, 41, 43) and consti-

tute a true family with him. But the title given

most often to Mary in the Gospel is: the Mother of

Jesus. Luke does not follow the usual custom of



naming the husband before the wife (cf. Lk 15),
but in the case of Jesus, he changes the order and

names Mary before Joseph (Lk 1, 27; 2, 16):21

in the Incarnation of the Son of God, which is the

principal event of salvation history, the main role

was played not by the husband, but by the wife.

What, however, constitutes the “strange and

unusual” case of Mary is the fact that she becomes
the mother of Jesus while remaining a virgin.22

She is the only woman in the New Testament to
whom the name of virgin was applied almost like a
title (Lk 1, 27; cf. Mt 1, 23).23 The Virgin Mary
thus becomes the model not only of women who
embrace the married state, but also of those who
freely choose in the Lord to remain virgins. Chris-

tian virginity consists not only, nor principally, in

the integrity of the flesh; it is fundamentally a care-

ful loving attention to the Word of God (Lk 8, 21;
11, 27-28), the integrity of faith (cf. 2 Cor 11, 2),

24

an integral dedication to the Lord (1 Cor 7, 32-25).

2. At different times in her life, Mary played a

decisive part in salvation history. When the Angel
on God’s behalf asked her to become the Mother of
the Messiah, her consent was not merely an act of
submission to the will of God, but a free and active

co-operation “in the greatest event of all ages.” 25

Mary gave this consent to the work of salva-
tion in the name of all mankind.26 “At no other
time did a woman exert such a decisive influence
over the history of mankind.” 27

At the Wedding Feast at Cana, Mary by her
initiative gave Jesus the chance to work his first

miracle and “to reveal his glory” (Jn 2, 1-11), thus

helping “the apostolic community to believe in
Christ.” 28 On this occasion, Jesus no longer
called her “Mother,” but “Woman”, to emphasize
her role as a “woman” in God’s plan.29 The
Mother of Jesus also played an active part in the
work of redemption: she was a valiant woman who,
like her Son, “experienced poverty and suffering,
flight and exile” (cf. Mt 2, 13-23).30 On Calvary
she stood at the foot of the Cross and here again

Jesus called her “Woman” in reference to Eve, the
first woman. His relationship to Mary was no
longer on the basis of the family; he wanted her to
be henceforth the Mother of the beloved Disciple

(Jn 19, 25-27). If Eve became the mother of the
living (Gen 3, 20), Mary, the new Eve, became
“from that hour” the Mother of believers, the
Mother of the Church. This maternal role of Mary

is also described in the Book of Revelation: the

“great portent” which appears in heaven, the

Woman crowned with stars (Rev 12, 1-6), is a sym-
bol of the Church, but this eschatological figure

also represents “Mary, the new Eve, the daughter
of Sion, who gave birth to the Messiah.” 31

3. Mary is, then, a perfect representation of the

Church. “The Mother of God is the type of the
Church, in the order of faith, charity and perfect

union with Christ” (Lumen Gentium, n. 63). In her
is fulfilled what should be the attitude of the Chris-

tian community, the spouse of Christ, always atten-

tive to the voice of her Lord and adorned for the

coming of Christ her Spouse (Rev 21, 2).

F. CONCLUSION
The specific contribution of Revelation has been

to affirm the perfect equality of man and woman as

persons in God’s eyes. Christ freed women from
their inferior status. The early Christians consid-

ered them as sisters. The primitive Church inte-

grated women into the Christian assembly, recog-
nized their particular responsibility and associated

them in the work of the apostolic ministry. The

Scriptures also bring out the difference between

man and woman. No longer is it a relationship

between superior and inferior, but a mutual fulfill-

ment, which finds its full meaning in the union of

the Church and Christ and its most perfect expres-

sion in Mary’s attitude before God.

The woman of today “desires to share in the
power of decision and in the choices made by the

community.” 32 The promotion of woman takes
place in truth through a deeper understanding of

her responsibility as a woman, equal to man and
his “companion.” To be a woman, just as to be a

man, is a vocation of the person. Each one must

assume his or her human reality as something that

is holy.

NOTES
1 P. GRELOT, Le couple humain dans I'Ecriture (Lection

divina, 33) Paris, Ed. du Cerf, 1962, 17-22.
2 Op. cit., 33.
3 Ibid.

4 Cl. WESTERMANN: Genesis 1-11 (Ertrage der Fors-
chung, 7), Darmstadt, 1972, 24-26: ‘‘Die Gottesebenbild-

lichkeit”; for the interpretation of tradition see P.N.

BRATSIOTIS: Genesis 1, 26 in der orthodoxen Theologie,
in Evang. Theol., 11 (1951-52) 289-97; A. SOLIGNAC, art.
Image in Diet. Spir., VII/2/1970, 1406-1425; Gaudium et
spes, 17.

17



5 P. GRELOT, op. cit., 45.
6 Ibid.

7 R. le DEAUT, Marie et I'Ecriture dans le chapitre VII
de “Lumen Gentium", in Bull, de la Soc. franc, d'etudes
mariales, 22 (1965) 69 and n. 49.

8 See A. CHOURAQUI, Le Cantique des Cantiques,
Paris, P.U.F. 1970.

9 P. GRELOT, op. cit., 86.
10 Mary of Bethany has been presented as the model

of contemplative life, e.g., by St. GREGORY THE GREAT,
Horn, in Ezech., 1,3,9 (PL, 76,809 C) and by St. BRUNO,
In Ps. 144 (PL, 152, 1396); as the symbol of eternal life,
by St. AUGUSTINE, Sermo 103, 4-5; 104,3; 169,14; 255,2
(PL, 38, 615-616, 617-618, 925, 1186); De Trin., I, 10,10
(PL, 42, 834).

11 J. VINATIER, La femme, Parole de Dieu et avenir de
I’homme, Paris, Les Editions Ouvrieres, 1972, 114; see
below, n. 13.

12 The title is not used at this stage in the technical
sense it will have later in Tradition. It seems to indicate
a ministry in the wide sense.

13 Valentine BUISSERET, La Femme et I'avenir de
I’Eglise. Adresse aux Peres du Synode, Brussels, 1971, 6:
“The list of the prophetesses is a long one, and this
means that, among the first generations of Christians,
women were allowed to speak in the church” (quoted in
J. VINATIER, op. cit., 117, n. 25).

14 J. VINATIER, op. cit., 117, explains the importance
of the prophetic charism for the life of the Church: “To
nourish the faith in its beginnings, to follow its progress
with tact and patience, experience shows that woman is
specially well prepared for this task. In this field, . . . she
can receive a genuine ministry of the word of God, espe-
cially to nourish the faith of the new communities which
are springing up before our eyes.”

15 Cf. D. DELLING, Paulus’ Stellung zu Frau und Ehe,
Stuttgart, 1931; E. KAEHLER, Die Frau in den paulinis-
chen Briefen, Zurich, 1960; J. GALOT, Mission et minis-
ter de la femme, Paris, Lethielleux, 1973, III, pp. 113-
143: “La position doctrinale et pratique de Paul”; H. VAN
DER MEER, Sacerdozio della donna? Saggio di storia della
teologia (ed. in Italian by A. Bellini), Morcelliana, 1971,
22-64.

16 Other passages remind women of their responsibil-
ities in the family (1 Tim 2,15; 5,10; cf. Eph 6,4).

17 See Morna D. HOOKER, Authority on Her Head. An
Examination of 1 Cor 11, 10, in New Test. Studies, 10
(1964) 410-416; Annie JAUBERT, Le voile des femmes (1

Cor XI, 2-16), ibid. 18 (1972) 419-430; A. FEUILLET, Le

signe de puissance sur la tete des femmes (1 Cor 11,10)
in Nouv. rev. theol., 105 (1973) 945-954.

18 For a detailed discussion of these texts, cf. H. VAN
DER MEER, op. cit., 19-37.

19 An attempt has been made at times to discover in
Gal 3, 28 an argument in favor of ordaining women to
the priesthood. But is not this a confusion of two levels
which in Paul are quite distinct: the level of the vocation
which is common to all Christians, viz., the vocation to
become the children of God (that is the point at issue in
Gal 3, 28), and that of special vocations and of specific
ministries in the Church? On this question see J. GALOT,
Mission et Minister de la femme, Paris, Lethielleux, 1973,
119, 195, 199.

20 PAUL VI, Apostolic Exhortation "Marialis Cultus”, in
L’Osservatore Romano, 23 marzo 1974, 1-5. Cf. J.
GALOT, Maria, Immagine della donna, in Civ. Cattol.,
1974, II, 217-229 (presentation of the Document).

21 R. LAURENTIN, Structure et iheologie de Luc 1-1

1

(Etudes Bibliques), Paris, Gabalda, 1957, 34.
22 F. DUMAS, quoted in J. VINATIER, op. cit., 55.
23 Cf. Art. Virginite, in Voc. de theol. bibl., Paris, Ed.

du Cerf, 19702
,
1368-69.

24 As was well shown by St. Augustine, in 2 Cor 11, 2, it
is not a question of the virginity of bodies, but of virginity

of faith; see R. HESBERT, S. Augustin et la virginite de

la foi, in Augustinus Magister. Congres international

augustinien, II, Paris, 1954, 645-655; M. AGTERBERG,
L'Ecclesia Virgo et la Virginitas mentis dans la pensee de

Saint Augustin, in Augustiniana, 9 (1959) 221-276.
23 S. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS, Sermo 146 (PL 52, 583);

quoted in “Marialis Cultus", ibid.; cf. too Lumen Gentium,
n. 56.

26 S. THOMAS, Summa theol., Ilia, 9.30, art. 1; cf. H.
Urs von Balthasar, L'amour seul est digne de foi (Coll.
Foi vivante, 32) Aubier, 1966, 100 “. . . I’unique fiat
prononce pour tous d’une maniere archetypique par la

Mere-Epouse, Marie-l’Eglise”.
27 J. GALOT, art. cit., 219.
28 PAUL VI, Exhort. “Marialis Cultus”, n. 37.
29 D. MOLLAT, Saint Jean (Jerusalem Bible, edition in

separate volumes) 3rd edition, Paris, Cerf, 1973, note h
on Jn 2,4.

39 PAUL VI, Exhort. “Marialis Cultus”, ibid.
31 Bible de Jerusalem, new edition, Paris, Cerf, 1973:

1791-92, note m on Revelation 12, 1.
32 PAUL VI, Exhort. “Marialis Cultus”, ibid.

18



"Biblical Studies:

The Vlovelty of the Evangelical

Outlook on Woman

When reading the New Testament, and more
particularly its teaching on woman, one is struck

above all by a sort of reversal of perspective with

regard to the situation created by sin.

1. COMMUNION
REDISCOVERED

The first weighty and inescapable fact is the

integration of woman in the group proclaiming the
Gospel.

When he preaches the Kingdom of God, Jesus is
accompanied by the twelve, certainly, but also by

women. Luke 8, 1-3, gives the most explicit ac-
count: “Soon afterward he went on through cities

and villages, preaching and bringing the good news

of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with
him, and also some women who had been healed
of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magda-
lene, from whom seven demons had gone out and
Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and

Susanna, and many others, who provided for them
out of their means.”

But there is testimony of the fact in the other

synoptics also: Matt 27, 55-56; Mark 15, 40-41.

And it is confirmed by the prayer of Mary and
some women with the apostles in the upper room
before Pentecost (Acts I, 14).

So that, around Jesus, in the embryo of the
apostolic Church, there is a rediscovery of com-

munion between man and woman, a communion
that is essential to the apostolic proclamation of

the Gospel.

This communion supposes that Jesus looks at
woman in a new way, and remarkable witness is
given to this in the New Testament.

2. A NEW WAY DF LOOKING
AT WOMAN

Christ by looking on woman, freed her from the
covetousness and the domination of man.

We need only consider the text of the sermon on
the mount: “You have heard that it was said, ‘you

shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that
every one who looks at a woman lustfully has al-
ready committed adultery with her in his heart”

(Matt 5, 27-28).

And the reversing of the usual way of seeing
things, stressed by the disabused remark of the

apostles, “If such is the case of a man with his
wife, it is not expedient to marry” (Matt 19, 10), is

shown even more strongly in the scene where
Christ repudiates divorce; he destroys at the roots

the principle of woman’s domination by man, he
appeals to the plan of creation that he restores in

the light of his own resurrection.

It is also Christ’s new way of considering woman
that frees her from legal impurity as appears in the

case of the woman with the issue of blood (Mk 5,

>9



25-34), or from the domination of Satan (Mk 13,
10-17).

But the most significant attitude of Jesus is

certainly his attitude towards the woman taken in
adultery: he refers man, who, as in Genesis,

throws the blame on woman, to his own con-
science: “let him who is without sin among you
throw the first stone at her” (John 8, 7). Far from

blaming only the woman, on the contrary, he forces
man to acknowledge his responsibility. It is, as it
were, the divine retort to man’s accusation of

woman at the beginning of mankind.

Jesus had no hesitation in refusing to reduce

woman to her functional role of mother: when the
woman exclaimed “Blessed is the womb that bore
you, and the breasts that gave you to suck” he re-

plied: “happy rather are those who hear the word
of God and keep it” (Lk 11, 27-28).

This communion restored between man and
woman by a look from Jesus—the sign of the
Kingdom—makes it possible to show woman, on
the one hand as a type of faith and love and on the

other as the one who mediates the Gospel mes-
sage.

3. WOMEN, TYPES OF
FAITH AND LOVE

Mary of Bethany is—contrary to all Rabbinical
usage—the very type of the disciple (Lk 10, 38-
42): she listens to the word.

The sinful woman at the house of Simon the
pharisee becomes the perfect example of the re-

sponse of love to God’s pardon (Lk 7, 36-38):

through her Jesus reveals what is specific to the

Gospel mystery.

The widow’s mite (Mk 12, 41-44; Lk 21, 1-4)

proclaims the depths of the total gift with no re-

turn.

It is a woman, Martha, who gives us the most
beautiful profession of faith in the whole of the

Gospel—similar to Peter’s in Matthew—at the
very moment when Christ, by raising Lazarus, seals
his own death warrant: “She said to him, ‘Yes,

Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of

God, he who is coming into the world’ ” (Jn 11,

27).

And, because of this faith and this love, Jesus

seems to speak more directly to the heart of

woman and reveals his mystery more completely
to her: we have only to consider the dialogue be-

tween Christ and the Samaritan woman, and his

Messianic statement: “I who speak to you am he”
(Jn 4, 26), and his compassion for the widow of

Naim (Mk 7, 11-17); while his intimacy with

Martha and Mary emerges clearly in the scene of

the resurrection of Lazarus.

The women do not receive an official call to
follow Christ, as do the men, they follow him

spontaneously; but they are given a special mission

in the apostolic community.

4. WOMEN IN THE
APOSTOLIC MISSION

It was to a woman—the Samaritan—that were
revealed both the universal import of the

evangelical message and the mystery of the

Messiah:

“The hour is coming, and now is, when the true

worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and

truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must

worship in spirit and truth” (Jn 4, 23-24). “The

woman said to him, ‘I know that the Messiah is
coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes,

he will show us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who

speak to you am he’ ” (Jn 4, 25-26).

The Canaanite woman in Matthew 15, 21-26,
prefigures the same mystery of the universalism

of salvation.

But it goes further: while the apostles come to

grief over the prophecies about Christ’s passion,

the women have a presentiment of his mystery of
death and resurrection. The scene of the anointing

by Mary at Bethany (Mt 26, 6-13; Mk 14, 3-9; Jn

12, 1-8) appears here, to be of major importance;

this is remarkably emphasized by the integration

of Mary of Bethany’s gesture in the very object of

the evangelical proclamation.
1

Mary guessed what Christ was always saying to

the apostles and what they were incapable of

1 “Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached

in the whole world, what she has done will be told in
memory of her.” (Mt 26, 13; Mk 14, 9).

20



realizing: she had a presentiment of the mystery

of what was about to happen.

So the women have, as it were, a sort of intuition
of the development of the plan of salvation. That is

no doubt, the reason why it was the holy women,

especially Mary Magdalene, who were the first

witnesses of the Resurrection.

The mystery of Christ needed, therefore, to be

prepared and mediatized for the apostles through

the interiorization of the evangelical message in

the heart of the women.

At first, it is true, the apostles did not acknowl-

edge this feminine mediation—they considered it
to be women’s gossip—but in the light of the Holy
Spirit everything became clear, and the Gospel

itself was to give witness to what the apostles owed

the holy women.

In this way, within the apostolic kerygma, there

is the presence of the holy women.

5. MARY
There is, however, something more hidden and

more intimate at the heart of the Gospel mystery,

the presence of Mary, in the power and the shadow

of the Spirit of God (Lk 1, 34): the account of the

Annunciation is enlightening: “Behold the hand-

maid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to
thy word” (Lk 1, 38). More than any other, Mary

is, par excellence, the model of reception of the

word, and response in faith and love. She receives

the plenitude of God’s word, and even when she
does not understand it, as in the finding of Jesus

in the Temple, she keeps it in her heart.

The whole of God’s plan for her is, in fact, to

bring her to comprehension of the mystery of the

Suffering Servant, as shown in the first two chap-

ters of St Luke. It is also Mary who introduces the

mystery of her Son: at Cana, Mary inspires the

miracle, and the account ends: “he manifested his

glory and his disciples believed in him” (Jn 2, 1 1).

And the cross, which associates Mary with the act

by means of which Jesus takes the place of sinners,

as had been announced by the prophet Simeon,

makes her the mother of the apostle himself

—

the beloved disciple—and in consequence, of the
whole Church.

CONCLUSION

The apostolic experience would not have been

what it is without the experience of the holy

women, and particularly of Mary.

At the heart of the apostolic experience—it is
not sufficiently noted—there is a presence, that
of the women, and particularly of Mary.

This presence is not something apart from the

apostolic witness, it is at its very heart.

Therefore, to say that the Church is apostolic,

if one does not give its whole meaning to the

apostolic experience itself, may lead to error. It
can only be stated with truth by adding that the

Church is Marian. The official proclamation of the

Word of God to the world can only be based on the

Marian experience recapitulating that of the holy

women, that is to say of a Church that lives the

interior experience of the Spirit.

2 /



Ylflariahs Gultus

guidelines for a study of the Apostolic Exhortation

Whilst awaiting the publication of commented

editions of His Holiness Pope Paul Vi’s Apostolic

Exhortation Marialis Cultus (February 2, 1974) in

the various languages, meditation of certain

paragraphs of the document that fall within the

context of International Women’s Year, might be

suggested to the faithful.

The Exhortation continues the presentation

made by Vatican II on Mary, Mother of God, in the
mystery of Christ and the Church (Lumen Gentium,

Chap. VIII), by encouraging the promotion of types

of devotion to Our Lady that are suitable to con-

temporary cultural forms.

The Exhortation treats of the relation between

the liturgy as such and devotion to the Blessed

Virgin (1-23); it gives reasons for the promotion

of the legitimate development of this devotion,

stressing the Trinitarian, Christologicai and

ecclesial aspects of devotion to the Blessed Virgin,

with biblical, liturgical, ecumenical and anthropo-

logical guidelines (24-39); gives more detailed

observations on the Angelus and the Rosary (40-

55) and closes with some considerations on the
theological and pastoral value of devotion to Our

Lady (56-58).

We are quoting some of the more outstanding
passages.

Modern anthropological concepts and renewal of

devotion to the Blessed Virgin

“Devotion to the Blessed Virgin must also

pay close attention to certain findings of the

human sciences. This will help to eliminate
one of the causes of the difficulties ex-

perienced in devotion to the Mother of the

Lord, namely, the discrepancy existing be-

tween some aspects of this devotion and

modern anthropological discoveries and the

profound changes which have occurred in the

psycho-sociological field in which modern

man lives and works. The picture of the
Blessed Virgin presented in a certain type of

devotional literature cannot easily be recon-

ciled with today’s life style, especially the way

women live today. In the home, woman’s
equality and co-responsibility with man in the
running of the family are being justly rec-

ognized by laws and the evolution of customs.

In the sphere of politics women have in many
countries gained a position in public life

equal to that of men. In the social field

women are at work in a whole range of differ-
ent employments, getting further away every

day from the restricted surroundings of the

home. In the cultural field new possibilities

are opening up for women in scientific re-
search and intellectual activities.” (34)

Mary, model for all believers, men and women, of
free acceptance of the Divine Will

“First, the Virgin Mary has always been

proposed to the faithful by the Church as an

example to be imitated not precisely in the

type of life she led, and much less for the

socio-cultural background in which she lived

22



and which today scarcely exists anywhere.

She is held up as an example to the faithful

rather for the way in which, in her own
particular life, she fully and responsibly ac-

cepted the will of God (cf. Lk 1:38), because
she heard the Word of God and acted on it

and because charity and a spirit of service

were the driving force of her actions. She is

worthy of imitation because she was the first

and most perfect of Christ’s disciples. All of

this has a permanent and universal exemplary

value.” (35)

Mary, an example for women: a woman who shared
in the making of vital decisions, who esteemed
virginity and the married state, a woman who, in
poverty and suffering, gave praise to the Lord.

‘‘Finally, we wish to point out that our own
time, no less than former times, is called

upon to verify its knowledge of reality with

the Word of God, and, keeping to the matter
at present under consideration, to compare

its anthropological ideas and the problems

springing therefrom with the figure of the

Virgin Mary as presented by the Gospel. The

reading of the divine Scriptures, carried out

under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and

with the discoveries of the human sciences
and the different situations in the world today

being taken into account, will help us to see

how Mary can be considered a mirror of the
expectations of the men and women of our
time. Thus, the modern woman, anxious to

participate with decision-making power in the

affairs of the community, will contemplate

with intimate joy, Mary who, taken into

dialogue with God, gives her active and re-

sponsible consent, not to the solution of a

contingent problem, but to that “event of

world importance,” as the Incarnation of the

Word has been rightly called. The modern

woman will appreciate that Mary’s choice on
the state of virginity which in God's plan

prepared her for the mystery of the Incarna-

tion, was not a rejection of any of the values

of the married state but a courageous choice

which she made in order to consecrate her-
self totally to the love of God. The modern
woman will note with pleasant surprise that
Mary of Nazareth, while completely devoted

to the will of God was far from being a

timidly submissive woman or one whose piety
was repellent to others; on the contrary, she

was a woman who did not hestitate to pro-
claim that God vindicates the humble and the

oppressed and removes the powerful people

of this world from their privileged positions

(cf. Lk 1:51-53). The modern woman will
recognize in Mary who “stands out among the
poor and humble of the Lord,” a woman of
strength, who experienced poverty and suf-
fering, flight and exile (cf. Mt 2: 13-23). These

are situations that cannot escape the atten-

tion of those who wish to support, with the

Gospel spirit, the liberating energies of man
and of society. And Mary will appear not as a

mother exclusively concerned with her own

divine Son, but rather as a woman whose ac-
tion helped to strengthen the apostolic com-

munity’s faith in Christ (cf. Jn 2: 1-12) and

whose maternal role was extended and be-

came universal on Calvary.” (37)

Mary, model for all

“The figure of the Blessed Virgin does not

disillusion any of the profound expectations

of the men and women of our time but offers
them the perfect model of the disciple of the

Lord: the disciple who builds up the earthly

and temporal city, the disciple who works for

that justice that sets free the oppressed and

for that charity which assists the needy; but

above all, the disciple who is the active wit-

ness of that love which builds up Christ in

people’s hearts.” 37

23



Tihe Participation of Women in ike

Life of the Ccclesial Gommunity
“Since in our times women have an ever more active share in the whole life of
society, it is very important that they participate more widely also in the various

fields of the Church's apostolate.’’

(Vatican Council II, Decree on the Lay Apostolate, n. 9)

"We also urge that women should have their own share of responsibility and
participation in the community life of society and likewise of the Church."

(The Synod of Bishops, 1971)

QUESTIONS FOR THE
LOCAL CHURCHES

N.B. This questionnaire is made available to
local Churches that wish to make use of it.
The aim of the questions is merely to stimu-

late reflection, discussion and awareness

among pastors and faithful, men and women
religious, lay men and lay women, adults
and young people. They are only pointers.

Other lines of reflection may be developed,
on the responsibility of the bishops, in rela-

tion to the needs of the local Churches and

to the particular cultural context. It will be

interesting to gather the opinions not only

from the faithful actively engaged in the life

of the ecclesial community, but also from

those who are considered apathetic or even
marginal.

I. THE WITNESS OF THE
LOCAL CHURCH
What witness does your local Church give from

the point of view of the participation of women in

ecclesial life and of co-operation between men and
women within the People of God?

1. To what extent do women—nuns or lay
persons, married or single—contribute to the life
of the ecclesial community?

a) In the Parish Councils?

b) In the Pastoral Council or other forms of

consultation at diocesan level?

c) In special services: catechesis and

catechumenate? Liturgical services? Welfare

work? Ecumenical activities? Etc.

2. Do people know about, and dothey implement

all existing possibilities for the active participation

of women in the liturgy: the readings, prayer of the
faithful, etc.; in certain cases of pastoral necessity,

distribution of Holy Communion?

3. Have "lay ministries” open to women been

experienced? Ministries = stable services, such as
leadership of the community, catechetical instruc-

tion, welfare work, etc., undertaken in terms of a

mandate, officially conferred, possibly with a non-

sacramental rite.

24



• If so, with what results?

• Do the women who exercise such minis-
tries wish to have them formally “instituted”?

Why?

4. Are women who hold positions of responsibi I ity
in society (in professional, cultural, social, political

life . . .) requested to place their experience and

specialized knowledge at the service of the

Church’s mission? In what forms?

• Are these women available for such service?

• Is their service welcomed by the commu-
nity?

5. Are there any women associated with the work
of the Episcopal Assemblies and Commissions?

• Religious sisters?

• Lay women? Married women? Single
women?

• Women who hold responsible positions in
institutions of the ecclesial community (schools,

hospitals, etc.)?

• Is their participation symbolic or real?

• Is their participation statutory or only

occasional?

"It is our wish that the ascetic, contemplative

tradition of religious life, or the active one,

should be recognized by everyone, by the

ecclesial community particularly, as valid and
relevantly updated as it must be according

to the spirit of the recent Council. ... It is

our wish furthermore to promote and perfect

the assignment of Sisters, when they so de-
sire and are qualified for it, to cooperation in

the pastoral ministry. . . .”

(Pope Paul VI to Sisters in Rome, February

2, 1973)

II. RELIGIOUS SISTERS IN
THE COMMUNITY

1.

What is thought of sisters: in the parish? In
pastoral activities? In institutions (schools,

charitable works, hospitals, etc.)?

• Are they considered persons in their own
right?

• or expendable and interchangeable?

2. Are contemplative sisters considered to be

part of the community? As active members? Are

they associated with pastoral plans and concerns?

3. Everywhere in the world sisters are endeavor-

ing to study their vocation more in depth, to

specify more clearly their place in the Church and

the forms of their presence in the world today.

In your locality

• Do the other members of the ecclesial com-
munity try to understand the sisters' vocation

and their present day searching?

• Are sisters required to do work that is in-

compatible with their vocation (possibly, in the

name of “aggiornamento”)?

• Are religious consulted directly or through

appropriate bodies, with regard to decisions

concerning them?

III. LAY ASSOCIATIONS
1. In mixed associations (men and women), do

women share the real responsibilities? If not, why
not?

2. What is the role of women in new types of
groups? Charismatic groups? Groups involved in

the struggle for justice? Basic communities? Any

others?

3. Are women’s organizations associated with

pastoral activity in the local Church? Are they

consulted about problems of society involving the

ecclesial community?

4. Do you know any cases of amalgamation of

masculine and feminine associations?

• If so, how have they worked out with regard

to co-operation between men and women?

• Do women participate in the leadership of
the associations?

• Do they carry the whole burden of organi-

zation? Of finance?

• Is the spiritual and communitarian life

better than in the past? Or, on the contrary, is it

slacker?

5. Do you know any groups of women who when
faced with the possibility of amalgamation have

25



opted for the continuation of their separate exist-

ence?

• If so, what were their motivations? The

requirements of formation? Possibility of ex-

pression and of real responsibility? Efficiency?

Specificity of women’s contribution?

IV. THE TRAINING OF
WOMEN TO HOLD
RESPONSIBILITY

1. Is anything being done about deepening the

faith-life of women? Or is it still only a case of “a
few uplifting words for the good ladies”?

2. What is being done to give spiritual, moral,

and doctrinal support to women holding responsi-
ble positions in society?

3. What are the possibilities of formation for

women who have to hold positions of responsibility
in the ecclesial community?

4. Does preparation for Christian marriage take

into account the evolution of the status of woman
and does it encourage the sharing of responsi-

bilities while taking into account the concrete

possibilities of each partner?

5. What training can women receive to equip
them to be usefully involved in the ecumenical

movement? Sisters? Lay women?

‘‘How many situations require your joint

study, situations in which you are committed

as women and where you must bring your
specific witness as Christian women! How
many fields to be explored, in domestic and

social life, in which personal relations must

be transformed by love! How many experi-
ences of your various Christian movements

to be pooled, how many considerations to be

pursued in the light of faith, and perhaps new

activities to be undertaken in the charity of

Christ, so that men and women of our time,

our brothers and sisters, may fulfill more

perfectly their vocation as children of God!”

(Pope Paul VI to an ecumenical group of

women, October 28, 1970)

V. WOMEN AND THEOLOGY
1. Are women encouraged to acquire a sound

theological formation? Sisters? Lay women?

• Only in words? Or in practical ways (orga-

nization of courses with adapted time-tables,

study grants, etc.)?

2. Do you know any experiences of fruitful

collaboration between men and women in the field
of theological reflection?

3. Do women participate in the teaching of
theology? In what forms? With what results?

4. Are the skills of women who give religious
instruction in the schools valorized in the ecclesial

community?

5. Are women consulted in the research for a
theological language adapted to contemporary

mentalities? In the formulation of pastoral docu-

ments?

• Sisters? Lay women? Women with various
experiences and skills?

VI. THE "CLIMATE" OF THE
ECCLESIAL COMMUNITY

1. Is the atmosphere of your ecclesial commu-
nity favorable to responsible participation on the

part of the laity in general? Of women in particu-
lar? Of sisters? Married women, single women?

2. When women are asked to undertake service
involving responsibilities, is this done:

• as a concession or a privilege?

• only because there are no men available?

• or rather, because their character as bap-

tized persons and their personal aptitudes are

being recognized?

3. Is the possibility and the value of voluntary

commitment of women in the service of the com-

munity recognized?

4. Is the question of ‘‘co-operation between

men and women” considered as a serious problem

of the ecclesial community?

• Is an effort being made to understand the

positions of the ‘‘Women's Lib” movement,

26



even when such positions are polemical and

exaggerated or even inadmissible?

• Do questions concerning “woman” raise
smiles in mixed groups?

VII. THE EDUCATION OF THE
ECCLESIAL COMMUNITY

1. Does Catholic education prepare people for

open, healthy relationships between men and
women in the whole life of society and the Church?

If not, what can you propose in order to make it
more fitted for its task?

• Is the “image” of woman presented in
Catholic education nearly always that of a reli-

gious sister, or a wife and mother? Or, on the

contrary, that of a professional woman?

2. Has any critical reflection on the “image”
of woman presented by the mass media been
undertaken within the ecclesial community?

3. Does the training of the clergy help future

priests to prepare for healthy collaboration with

women in pastoral activities?

• Does this training include a study of reli-

gious and other vocations for women in the
world today?

4. When women are mentioned in sermons
and in catechesis, is inspiration taken from the

example of Jesus?

VIII. ...AND THE MENTALITY
F WOMEN?

1.

How do women see “their place” in the
Church?

• Sisters?

• Young women?

• Young married women?

• Mothers of families? Mothers working out-

side the home?

• Married women with no children?

• Widows?

• Married or single women holding responsi-

ble positions in the professions?

2. Marginalized women (divorcees, wives of

migrants, etc.)—What do they expect from the
Church?

• Do they feel able to contribute something

to the Church?

3. What is being done to help women be more
aware of their share of responsibility in the mission

of the Church?

4. Do women holding responsibility in the
Church find that they are helped and supported

by other women?

5. If women want to play their rightful part in
the activity of the Church, is not doubt too often,

or too quickly, thrown on their sincere concern for

evangelization? On their spirit of disinterested

service? Their loyal acceptance of authority in the

Church?

• Do you know of any experiences of dia-

logue and reconciliation which have made it
easier to go beyond the stage of “claiming

rights”? Any efforts made by men and women
together to arrive at a more just attitude and a

better integration of women in the various sec-
tors of the Church’s mission?

27



The Participation of Women in the
Work of Evangelization

Recommendations made to the 1974 Assembly of the Synod of Bishops by the
Study Commission on Woman in Society and in the Church.

The Study Commission on Woman in Society
and in the Church,

considering

• that the mission of evangelization involves,

according to their specific vocations, all bap-

tized members of the People of God,

• that the work, both human and divine, of
evangelization demands, for the plenitude of its

human quality, co-operation between men and
women and the valorization of each one’s spe-
cific contribution,

• that, in respect for the dignity of every

human being, this co-operation should give each
person, according to his or her talents, the

possibility of responsible participation in the

work undertaken,

• that often, in the past, the participation of

non-ordained members of the Church—partic-
ularly of women—was not sufficiently solicited,
prepared or promoted,

• that this inadequate participation of the

“non-ordained” was often more marked with
regard to women owing to prejudice and socio-
cultural attitudes that were prevalent in society

and within the ecclesial communiy itself,

• That the evolution of woman's situation in
society necessitates an urgent revision, today,

of her place in the life of the Church,

• that this urgent need is further emphasized

by the fact that the United Nations has pro-

claimed 1975 as International Women’s Year,

addresses to the 1974 Assembly of the Synod of

Bishops the following suggestions:

I. PARTICIPATION
1) That, bearing in mind the experience

acquired since Vatican Council II, the participation

of women in the work of evangelization, in posi-
tions of recognized and effective responsibility, be

promoted and developed:

• for individuals in local communities,

• for members of women’s or mixed ecclesial

organizations,

• according to individual competence, as

members of temporary Commissions or of dele-
gations created by the Bishops or by the Holy

See,

• as members or consultors, or as officials
of the departments of the Holy See.

2) That particular importance be attached to

the participation of religious and lay women in
ecclesial bodies for reflection, planning, decision

making and evaluation at parochial, diocesan, na-

tional and international levels.

28



3) That religious Sisters be given their place in

the work of evangelization according to their spe-

cific vocation and the charism of their Institutes.

This requires:

• that the Bishops have a thorough knowl-

edge of the Institutes whose apostolate comes

under their jurisdiction;

• that they be concerned to help the Sisters

in the in-depth study of their vocation;

• that where the ecclesiastical authorities

consider that the Church needs new forms of

apostolate, these new calls be studied in dia-

logue with the Sisters concerned and the

Superiors of the Institutes.

4) That the Episcopal Conferences study, with

the collaboration of lay men and women and Sis-
ters, the expediency and the possible modalities of

“non-ordained ministries,” open as much to
women as to men, and which would be formally
instituted for pastoral and missionary tasks.

II. EDUCATION
1) That educational action be undertaken at all

levels of the Church’s life in order to' bring about

changes in the way of thinking that will promote

better relationships of collaboration between men
and women—on basically equal terms and accord-
ing to each one’s vocation—in the work of evan-
gelization and at the level of pastoral responsibil-

ities in the Church.

2) That a special effort be made to assure that
the education of the clergy enables them to have a

good understanding of the various Christian voca-

tions for women and to collaborate sincerely with
them in the different sectors of the apostolate.

3) That the Pastors of the Church attach im-

portance to the education of the faith of women,

and to providing them with a spiritual, doctrinal

and pastoral formation which will enable them to

participate according to their true abilities in the

work of evangelization.

29



Appendix

[Declaration on the elimination of

hDiscrimination Against Women
Proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations

on November 7, 1967 (Resolution 2263—XXII)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

CONSIDERING that the peoples of the United
Nations, have, in the Charter, reaffirmed their

faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity
and worth of the human person and in the equal
rights of men and women,

CONSIDERING that the Universal Declaration on
Human Rights asserts the principle of non-dis-
crimination and proclaims that all human beings
are born free and equal in dignity and rights and

that everyone is entitled to all the rights and free-

doms set forth therein without distinction of any
kind, including any distinction as to sex,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the resolutions, dec-
larations, conventions and recommendations of

the United Nations, and the specialized agencies

designed to eliminate all forms of discrimination

and to promote equal rights for men and women,

CONCERNED that, despite the Charter of the
United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Hu-

man Rights, the International Covenants on Human
Rights and other instruments of the United Na-

tions and the specialized agencies and despite the

progress made in the matter of equality of rights,
there continues to exist considerable discrimina-

tion against women,

CONSIDERING that discrimination against
women is incompatible with human dignity and
with the welfare of the family and of society, pre-

vents their participation, on equal terms with men,

in the political, social, economic and cultural life

of their countries and is an obstacle to the full de-

velopment of the potentialities of women in the
service of their countries and of humanity,

BEARING IN MIND, the great contribution made
by women to social, political, economic and
cultural life and the part they play in the family

and particularly in the rearing of children,

CONVINCED that the full and complete develop-
ment of a country, the welfare of the world and the

cause of peace require the maximum participation
of women as well as men in all fields,

CONSIDERING that it is necessary to ensure the
universal recognition in law and in fact of the

principle of equality of men and women,

SOLEMNLY PROCLAIMS this Declaration:

Article 1

Discrimination against women, denying or limit-

ing as it does their equality of rights with men, is

fundamentally unjust and constitutes an offence

against human dignity.

30



Article 2

All appropriate measures shall be taken to

abolish existing laws, customs, regulations and

practices which are discriminatory against women,
and to establish adequate legal protection for

equal rights of men and women, in particular:

a) the principle of equality of rights shall be

embodied in the constitution or otherwise

guaranteed by law;

b) the international instruments of the

United Nations, and the specialized agencies

relating to the elimination of discrimination

against women shall be ratified or acceded to
and fully implemented as soon as practicable.

Article 3

All appropriate measures shall be taken to edu-

cate public opinion and to direct national aspira-

tions towards the eradication of prejudice and the

abolition of customary and all other practices

which are based on the idea of the inferiority of

women.

Article 4

All appropriate measures shall be taken to en-
sure to women on equal terms with men, without
any discrimination;

a) the right to vote in all elections and be

eligible for election to all publicly elected bodies;

b) the right to vote in all public referenda;

c) the right to hold public office and to

exercise all public functions.

Such rights shall be guaranteed by legislation.

Article 5

Women shall have the same rights as men to ac-
quire, change or retain their nationality. Marriage

to an alien shall not automatically affect the

nationality of the wife either by rendering her state-

less or by forcing upon her the nationality of her

husband.

Article 6

1.

Without prejudice to the safeguarding of the

unity and the harmony of the family, which remains
the basic unit of any society, all appropriate mea-

sures, particularly legislative measures, shall be

taken to ensure to women, married or unmarried,

equal rights with men in the field of civil law, and
in particular:

a) the right to acquire, administer, enjoy,

dispose of and inherit property, including

property acquired during marriage;

b) the right to equality in legal capacity and

the exercise thereof;

c) the same rights as men with regard to the
law on the movement of persons.

2. All appropriate measures shall be taken to

ensure the principle of equality of status of the

husband and wife, and in particular:

a) women shall have the same right as men
to free choice of a spouse and to enter into

marriage only with their free and full consent;

b) women shall have equal rights with men
during marriage and at its dissolution. In all

cases the interest of the children shall be

paramount; 1

c) parents shall have equal rights and duties

in matters relating to their children. In all cases

the interest of the children shall be paramount.

3. Child marriage and the betrothal of young

girls before puberty shall be prohibited, and effec-

tive action, including legislation, shall be taken to

specify a minimum age for marriage and to make
the registration of marriages in an official registry

compulsory.

Article 7

All provisions of penal codes which constitute

discrimination against women shall be repealed.

Article 8

All appropriate measures, including legislation,

shall be taken to combat all forms of traffic in

women and exploitation of prostitution of women.

Article 9

All appropriate measures shall be taken to en-

sure to girls and women, married or unmarried,

1 We give the full text as adopted by the General As-
sembly of the United Nations. It is clear that we cannot
accept the reference made here to the “dissolution" of
marriage.

31



I

I

equal rights with men in education at all levels,
and in particular:

a) equal conditions of access to, and study

in, educational institutions of all types, includ-

ing universities and vocational, technical and

professional schools;

b) the same choice of curricula, the same
examinations, teaching staff with qualifications

of the same standard, and school premises and

equipment of the same quality, whether the
institutions are co-educational or not;

c) equal opportunities to benefit from

scholarships and other study grants;

d) equal opportunities for access to pro-

grams of continuing education, including adult

literacy programs;

e) access to educational information to help

in ensuring the health and well-being of families.

b) the right to equal remuneration with men

and to equality of treatment in respect of work

of equal value;

c) the right to leave with pay, retirement

privileges and provision for security in respect

of unemployment, sickness, old age or other

incapacity to work;

d) the right to receive family allowances on

equal terms with men.

2. In order to prevent discrimination against

women on account of marriage or maternity and to

ensure their effective right to work, measures shall

be taken to prevent their dismissal in the event of

marriage or maternity and to provide paid ma-

ternity leave, with the guarantee of returning to

former employment, and to provide the necessary

social services, including child care facilities.

3. Measures taken to protect women in certain

types of work, for reasons inherent in their physical

nature, shall not be regarded as discriminatory.

Article 10

1. All appropriate measures shall be taken to

ensure to women married or unmarried, equal
rights with men in the field of economic and social
life, and in particular:

a) the right, without discrimination on

grounds of marital status or any other grounds,

to receive vocational training, to work, to free

choice of profession and employment, and to

professional and vocational advancement;

Article 11

1. The principle of equality of rights of men

and women demands implementation in all States
in accordance with the principles of the Charter of

the United Nations and of the Universal Declara-

tion of Human Rights.

2. Governments, non-governmental organiza-

tions and individuals are urged, therefore, to do all

in their power to promote the implementation of

the principles contained in this Declaration.

32



Tihe Bouncil Ylflessage to Women
The Message to Women was read on December 8, 1965 at the solemn closing

ceremony of the Second Vatican Council

And now it is to you that we address ourselves,
women of all states—girls, wives, mothers, and
widows, to you also, consecrated virgins and

women living alone—you constitute half of the
immense human family. As you know, the Church
is proud to have glorified and liberated woman, and
in the course of the centuries, in diversity of char-

acters, to have brought into relief her basic equal-

ity with man. But the hour is coming, in fact has

come, when the vocation of woman is being
achieved in its fullness, the hour in which woman
acquires in the world an influence, an effect, and

a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at
this moment when the human race is undergoing
so deep a transformation, women impregnated with
the spirit of the Gospel can do much to aid man-
kind in not falling.

You women have always had as your lot the pro-
tection of the home, the love of beginnings, and
an understanding of cradles. You are present in
the mystery of a life beginning. You offer consola-
tion in the departure of death. Our technology
runs the risk of becoming inhuman. Reconcile
men with life and above all, we beseech you, watch
carefully over the future of our race. Hold back
the hand of man who, in a moment of folly, might
attempt to destroy human civilization.

Wives, mothers of families, the first educators of
the human race in the intimacy of the family circle,
pass on to your sons and your daughters the tradi-

tions of your fathers at the same time that you
prepare them for an unsearchable future. Always

remember that by her children a mother belongs

to that future which perhaps she will not see.

And you, women living alone, realize what you
can accomplish through your dedicated vocation.

Society is appealing to you on all sides. Not even

families can live without the help of those who have
no families. Especially you, consecrated virgins, in

a world where egoism and the search for pleasure

would become law, be the guardians of purity, un-
selfishness, and piety. Jesus, who has given to
conjugal love all its plenitudes, has also exalted the

renouncement of human love when this is for the
sake of divine love and for the service of all.

Lastly, women in trial who stand upright at the
foot of the cross like Mary, you who so often in his-
tory have given to men the strength to battle unto
the very end and to give witness to the point of

martyrdom, aid them now still once more to retain
courage in their great undertaking, while at the

same time maintaining patience and an esteem for
humble beginnings.

Women, you who know how to make truth sweet,
tender, and accessible, make it your task to bring
the spirit of this Council into institutions, schools,

homes, and daily life. Women of the entire uni-
verse, whether Christian or non-believing, you to
whom life is entrusted at this grave moment in
history, it is for you to save the peace of the world.

33