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Woman's Duties in Social

and Political Life

By POPE PIUS XII



Address given on October 21, 1945, by His

Holiness, Pope Pius XII, to the Catholic Women

of Rome on the Duties of Woman in Social and

Political Life.

{Translation of official text as radioed to the

United States by the N.C.W.C. News Service)



Woman’s Duties

in

Social and Political Life

Your
presence in great numbers

around Us, dear daughters, is es-

pecially significant at the present

moment. For if We arc always glad
to receive you, bless you and give you

Our paternal counsels, there is added

circumstance now that, at your urgent

request. We are to deal with a topic
outstanding in interest and primary

importance for our times: It is

woman’s duties in social and political

life. We for Our part welcomed such

an opportunity, for the feverish agita-

tion of the present moment of travail,

and still more apprehensions of an un-

certain future, have brought the posi-

tion of woman to the forefront in the

programs of both friends and enemies

of Christ and Church.

The Problem of Woman’s Dignity

Let Us say at the outset that for Us

the problem regarding woman, both

in its entirety as a whole and in all its

many details, resolves itself into pre-

serving and augmenting that dignity

which woman has had from God. For

us, accordingly, it is not a problem

that is merely juridical or economic,

educational or biological, political or

demographic—it is rather one which,
in spite of its complexity, hinges en-

tirely on the question how to maintain

and strengthen that dignity of woman,

especially today, in circumstances in

which Providence has placed us.

To envisage the question any other

way or to consider it exclusively under

any of the aspects We just mentioned
would be tantamount to shirking it

without advantage to anyone, and

least of all to woman herself. To de-

tach it from God and from the order

of things wisely set up by the Creator

from His most holy will is to miss the

essential point of the question, which

is the dignity of woman, that dignity

which she has only from God and in

God.

Hence, it follows that those systems

cannot treat the question of women’s

rights proncrlv which exclude God and

His law from the social life and give

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precepts of religion, at most, a lowly

place in man’s private life.

You, therefore, disregarding high-

sounding and empty slogans with

which some people would qualify the

movement for women’s rights, have

laudably organized and united as Cath-

olic women and Catholic girls in order

to meet in a becoming manner the

natural needs and true interests of

your sex.

The Characteristics of the Two
Sexes and Their Mutual

Coordination

What, then, is this dignity that a

woman has from God? Put the ques-

tion to human nature as formed by

God and elevated and redeemed in the

Blood of Christ.

In their personal dignity as children

of God a man and woman are abso-

lutely equal, as they are in relation to

the last end of human life, which is

everlasting union with God in the

happiness of Heaven. It is the un-

dying glory of the Church that she

put these truths in their proper light

and honorable place and that she has

freed woman from degrading, unnat-

ural slavery.

But a man and woman cannot main-

tain and perfect this equal dignity of

theirs, unless by respecting and acti-

vating characteristic qualities which

nature has given each of them, physi-

cal and spiritual qualities which can-

not be eliminated, which cannot be

reversed without nature itself stepping

in to restore the balance. The«;e char-

acteristic qualities which divide the

two sexes are so obvious to all that

only willful blindness or a no less dis-

astrous utopian doctrinaire attitude

could overlook or practically ignore

their significance in social relations.

The two sexes, by the very qualities

that distinguish them, are mutually

complementary to such an extent that

their coordination makes itself felt in

every phase of man’s, social life. We
shall here only recall two of these

phases because of their special impor-

tance: The married state and the state

of celibacy embraced voluntarily in

accordance with evangelical counsels.

The Married State

The result of a genuine marriage

union involves more than children

when God grants them to the married

couple, and the material and spiritual

advantages that accrue to mankind

from family life. The whole civilized

world, all its branches, peoples, and

relations between peoples, even the

Church itself—in a word, everything
really good in mankind—benefits by
the happy results when this family

life is orderly and flourishing and when

the young are accustomed to look up

to it, honor it and love it as a holy

ideal.

But where the two sexes, forgetful

of that intimate harmony willed and

established by God, give themselves up

to perverted individualism, where their

mutual relations are governed bv self-

ishness and covetousness, when they

do not collaborate by mutual accord

for the service of mankind according

to the designs of God and nature,

when the young, scouting their re-

sponsibilities, silly and frivolous in

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spirit and conduct, render themselves

unfit physically and morally for the

holy state of Matrimony: then the

common good of human society, in

the temporal as well as the spiritual

order, is gravely compromised and the

Church of God herself trembles, not

for her existence—for she has divine
promises—but for the larger achieve-
ments of her mission to men.

Voluntary Celibacy According to

Evangelical Counsels

But let us remember that for nigh

on to 20 centuries, in every generation,

thousands and thousands of men and

women, from among the best, in order

to follow the counsels of Christ, freely

renounced the possibility of a family

of their own and the sacred duties and

rights of married life.

Is the common good of the peoples

and the Church perhaps jeopardized by

this? On the contrary, these generous

souls recognize the union of the two

sexes in Matrimony as a good of high

order. But, if they abandon the ordi-

nary way and leave the beaten track,

they do not desert it, but rather conse-

crate themselves to the service of man-

kind with a complete disregard for

themselves and their own interests by

an act incomparably broader in its

scope, more all-embracing and uni-

versal.

Look at those men and women: see

them dedicated to prayer and penance,

intent on the instruction and educa-

tion of the young and ignorant, lean-

ing over the pillow of the sick and

dying, open-hearted for all their miser-

ies, and all their weaknesses in order

to relieve them, ease them, lighten

them and sanctify them.

The Young Catholic Girl Who
Remains Perforce Unmarried

When one thinks of young girls and

women who willingly renounce Matri-

mony in order to consecrate themselves

to a higher life of contemplation, sac-

rifice and charity, there comes at once

to the lips the word that explains it:

vocation. It is the only word that

can describe so loftv a sentiment.

This vocation call of life is felt in

the most diverse ways, corresponding

to the infinitely diverse modulations

of the voice of God; it may be an

overpowering call, affectionately invit-

ing inspiration, or gentle impulse—but
the young Catholic girl, too, who re-

mains unmarried perforce, trusting

nonetheless the providence of our

Heavenly Father, recognizes in the

vicissitudes of life the call of the Mas-

ter: The Master is come and calleth for

thee (John 11-28). She hearkens.

She gives up the fond dream of her

adolescence and youth to have a faith-

ful companion in life and set up a

family. And in the exclusion of Mat-

rimony she recognizes her vocation.

Then, with a sorrowful but submis-

sive heart, she too gives herself up to

the noble and most diversified good

works.

Motherhood the Natural Sphere

OF Woman

In both states alike woman’s sphere

is clearly outlined by qualities, tem-

perament and gifts peculiar to her sex.

She collaborates with man but in a

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manner proper to her accordin)^ to her

natural bent. Now the sphere of
woman, her manner of life, her native

bent, is motherhood. Every woman is

made to be a mother: a mother in the

physical meaning of the word or in

the more spiritual and exalted but no

less real sense.

For this purpose the Creator organ-

ized the whole characteristic make-up

of woman, her organic construction,

but even more her spirit, and above all

her delicate sensitiveness. Thus it is

that a woman who is a real woman can

see all the problems of human life only

in the perspective of the family. That

is why her delicate sense of her dignity

puts her on guard any time that a so-

cial or political order threatens to

prejudice her mission as a mother or

the good of the family.

And such, unfortunately, is the so-

cial and political situation today; it

might even become still more precari-

ous for the sanctity of the home and

hence for woman’s dignity. Your day

is here. Catholic women and girls.

Public life needs you. To each one of

you might be said: (tua res agitur)

your destiny is at stake, (Horace Epis-

tles 1 - 18 -84 ).

The Social and Political Situation

Unfavorable to the Sanctity

OF THE Family and Woman’s

Dignity

It is beyond dispute that for a long

time past the political situation has

been evolving in a manner unfavorable

to the real welfare of the family and

women. Many political movements

are turning to woman to win her for

their cause. Some totalitarian systems

dangle marvelous promises before her

eyes; equality of rights with men, care

during pregnancy and childbirth, pub-

lic kitchens and other communal serv-

ices to free her from some
,
of her

household cares, public kindergartens

and other institutions maintained and

administered by government which re-

lieve her of maternal obligations to-

wards her own children, free schools

and sick benefits.

It is not meant to deny the ad-

vantages that can accrue from one

and the other of these social services

if properly administered. Indeed, We
have on a former occasion pointed

out that for the same work output a

woman is entitled to the same wages

as a man. But there still remains the

crucial point of the question to which

We already referred. Has woman’s
position been thereby improved?

Equality of rights with man brought

with it her abandonment of the home

where she reigned as queen, and her

subjection to the same work strain

and working hours. It entails depre-

ciation of her true dignity and the

solid foundation of all her rights which

is her characteristic feminine role, and

the intimate coordination of the two

sexes. The end intended by God for

the good of all human society, espe-

cially for that of the family, is lost

sight of. In concessions made to

woman one can easily see not respect

for her dignity or her mission, but an

attempt to foster the economic and

military power of the totalitarian state

to which all must inexorably be sub-

ordinated.

On the other hand, can a woman.

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perhaps, hope for her real well being

trom a regime dominated by capital-

ism? We do not need to describe to
you now the economic and social re-

sults that issue from it. You know

its characteristic signs, and you your-

selves are bearing its burden: excessive

concentration of populations in cities,

the constant all-absorbing increase of

big industries, the difficult and pre-

carious state of others, notably those

of artisan and agricultural workers,

and the disturbing increase of unem-

ployment.

To restore as far as possible the

honor of the woman’s and mother’s

place in the home: that is the watch-

word one hears now from many quar-

ters like a cry of alarm, as if the

world were awakening, terrified by

the fruits of material and scientific

progress of which it before was so

proud.

Let us look at things as they are.

Woman’s Absence from the Home

We see a woman who in order to
augment her husband’s earnings, be-

takes hersdf also to a factory, leaving

her house abandoned during her ab-

sence. The house, untidy and small

perhaps before, becomes even more

miserable for lack of care. Members

of the family work separately in four

quarters of the city and with different

working hours. Scarcely ever do they

find themselves together for dinner or

rest after work—still less for prayer in
common. What is left of familv life?

And what attractions can it offer to

children?

Malformation in the Education

OF Young Girls

To such painful consequences of the

absence of the mother from the home

there is added another, still more de-

plorable. It concerns the education,

especially of the young girl, and her

preparation for real life. Accustomed

as she is to see her mother alw.ays out

of the house and the house itself so

gloomy in its abandonment, she will

be unable to find any attraction for

it, she will not feel the slightest in-

clination for austere housekeeping jobs.

She cannot be expected to appreciate

their nobility and beauty or to wish

one day to give herself to them as a

wife and mother.

This is true in all grades and stations

of social life. The daughter of the

worldly woman, who sees all house-

keeping left in the hands of paid help

and her mother fussing around with

frivolous occupations and futile amuse-

ments, will follow her example, will

want to be emancipated as soon as

possible and in the words of a very

tragic phrase **to live her own life.”

How could she conceive a desire to be-
come one day a true lady that is the

mother of a happy, prosperous, worthy

family?

As to the working classes, forced to

earn daily bread, a woman might, if

she reflected, realize that not rarelv

the supplementary wage which she

earns by working outside the house is

easily swallowed up by other expenses

or even by waste which is ruinous to

the family budget. The daughter who

also goes out to work in a factory or

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office, deafened by the excited restless

world in which she lives, dazzled by

the tinsel of specious luxury, develop-

ing a thirst for shallow pleasures that

distract but do not give satiety or re-

pose in those revue or dance halls

which are sprouting up everywhere,

often for party propaganda purposes,

and which corrupt youth, becomes a

fashionable lady, despises the old Nine-

teenth Century ways of life.

How could she not feel her modest

home surroundings unattractive and

more squalid than they were in reality''

To find her pleasure in them, to desire

one day to settle in them herself, she

should be able to offset her natural im-

pressions by a serious intellectual and

spiritual life, by the vigor that comes

from religious education and from

supernatural ideals. But what kind of

religious formation has she received in

such surroundings?

And that is not all. When, as the

years pass, her mother prematurely

aged, worn out, and broken by work

beyond her capacity, by sorrow and

anxiety, will see' her return home at

night at a very late hour, she will not

find her a support or a help but rather

the mother herself will have to wait

on a daughter incapable and unaccus-

tomed to household work and to per-

form for her all the offices of a servant.

And the lot of the father will not

be anv better when old age, sickness,

infirmity and unemployment force him

to depend for his meager sustenance

on ihe good or bad will of his children.

Here you have the august holy author-

ity of the father and mother dethroned.

The Duty of A Woman to Tak^
Part in Public Life at the

Present Time

Shall we conclude then that you

Catholic women and girls must show

yourselves adverse to a movement

which willy-nilly carried you with it

in social and political life? Certainly

not.

In the face of theories and practice

which by different ways are tearing a

woman from her mission and, with a

flattering promise of unbridled free-

dom or, in reality, of hopeless misery,

are depriving her of her personal dig-

nity, her dignity as woman. We have
heard the cry of fear which calls for

her active presence as far as possible

in the home.

A woman is, in fact, kept out of
the home not only by her so-called

emancipation but often, too, by the

necessities of life, by the continuous

anxiety about daily bread. It would be

useless then to preach to her to return

to the home while conditions prevail

which constrain her to remain away

from it. And this brings Us to the

first aspect of your mission in the so-

cial and political life which opens up

before you.

Your entry into public life came

about suddenly as a result of social

upheavals which we see around us.

It does not matter. You are called

upon to take part. Will you, perhaps,

leave to others, to those who sponsor

or collaborate in the ruin of some

monopoly of social organization of

which the family is the primary fac-

tor in its economic, juridical, spiritual

and moral unity?

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The fate of the family, the fare of

human relations are at stake. They

are in your hands (tua res agitur).

Every woman has then, mark it well,

the obligation, the strict obligation in

conscience, not to absent herself but

to go into action in a manner and way

suitable to the condition of each so as

to hold back those currents which

threaten the home, so as to oppose

those doctrints which undermine its

foundations, so as to prepare, organize

and achieve its restoration.

To this powerful motive which im-

pels a Catholic woman to enter upon a

way that now is opened to her activity,

there is added another, her dignity as

a woman. She has to collaborate with

man towards the good of the State in

which she is of the same dignity as he.

Each of the two sexes must take the

part that belongs to it, according to

its nature, special qualities, and physi-

cal, intellectual and moral aptitude.

Both have the right and duty to co-

operate toward the total good of so-

ciety and of their country.

But it is clear that if man is by tem-

perament more drawn to deal with ex-

ternal things and public affairs, woman

has, generally speaking, more perspi-

cacity and a finer touch in knowing

and solving delicate problems of do-

mestic and family life which is the

foundation of all social life. This does

not exclude the possibility of some

women giving genuine proof of great

talent in all fields of public activity.

All this is a question, not so much

of distinct assignments, as of the man-

ner of judging and coming to concrete

practical conclusions. Let us take

the case of civil rights: These are at

present the same for both, but with

how much more discernment and effi-

cacy will they be utilized if man and

woman come to complement one an-

other. The sensitiveness and fine feel-

ing proper to woman, which might

lead her to judge by her impressions

and would thus involve the risk of im-

peding clarity and breadth of vision,

serenity of judgment and forethought

for remote consequences, are, on the

contrary, of immense help when it is

a question of throwing light on the

needs, aspirations and dangers that

touch domestic, public welfare or re-

ligious spheres.

The Vast Field of Activity for
Woman in Present-Day Civil

AND Political Life

Woman’s activity Is concerned, in

great part, with the labors and occu-

pations of domestic life which con-

tribute to a greater and more bene-

ficial extent than generally is thought

to the true interests of social relations.

But these interests also call for a group

of women who can dispose of more

time so as to devote themselves to

them more directly and more entirely.

Who, then, can these women be, if

not especially (we certainly do not

mean exclusively) those whom we re-

ferred to a little while ago, those on

whom unavoidable circumstances be-

stowed a mysterious vocation, whom

events destined to a solitude which

was not in their thoughts or desires,

and which seemed to condemn them

to a selfishly futile and aimless life?

Today, on the contrary, their mis-

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sion it unfolded—multifarious, mili-
tant, calling for all their energies and

of such a nature that few others held

down by cares of family or education

of children, or subject to the holy

yoke of rule have equal opportunities

of fulfilling it.

Up to now, some of those women

dedicated their fives with a zeal often

wonderful to parochial works, others

of even larger views consecrated them-

selves to moral and social activity of

great consequence. Their numbers as

a result of the war and the calamities

which followed it are considerably in-

creased. Many brave men have fallen

in the dreadful war, others returned

invalids. Many young women will,

therefore, wait in vain foe the return

of a husband and the flowering of new

fives in their solitary home. But, at

the same time, new needs created by

the entry of woman into civil and

political fife have arisen to claim their

assistance. Is it just a strange coin-

cidence or are we to see in it the dis-

position of Divine Providence?

Thus it is a vast field of activity

which now lies open to woman and it

can be corresponding to the mentality

or character of each, either intellec-

tual or actively practical. To study

and expound the place and role of

woman in society, her rights and

duties; to become a teacher-guide to

one’s sisters and to direct ideas, dis-

sipate prejudices, clarify obscure

points, explain and diffuse the teach-

ings of the Church in order more se-

curely to discredit error, illusion and

falsehood, in order to expose more ef-

fectively the tactics of those who op-

pose Catholic dogma and morals—is
an immense work and one of impelling

necessity, without which all the zeal

of the Apostolate could obtain but pre-

carious results. But direct action, too,

is indispensable if we do not want the

same doctrines and solid convictions

to remain, if not entirely of academic

interest, at least of little practical con-

sequence.

This direct participation, this elec-

tive collaboration in social and polit-

ical activity does not at all change

the normal activity of woman. Asso-

ciated with men in civil institutions,

she will apply herself especially to

those matters which call for tact, deli-

cacy and maternal instinct rather than

administrative rigidity. Who better
than she can understand what is needed

for the dignity of woman, the integ-

rity and honor of the young girl, and

the 'protection and education of the

child?

And in all these questions, how many

problems call for study and action on

the part of governments and legisla-

tors. Only a woman will know, for

instance, how to temper with kind-

ness, without detriment to its efficacy,

legislation to repress licentiousness.

She alone can find the means to save

from degradation and to raise in hon-

esty and in religious and civil virtues

the morally derelict young. She alone

will be able to render effective the

work of protection and rehabilitation

for those freed from prison and for

fallen girls. She alone will re-echo

from her own heart the plea of mothers

from whom the totalitarian state, by

whatever name it be called, would will

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to snatch the education of their chil-

dren.

Some Considerations in Conclu-

sion

(A) On the preparation and for-

mation of woman for social and politi-

cal life.

We outlined a program of woman’s
duties. Its practical aim is two-fold

—

her preparation and formation for so-

cial and ^litical life, and the evolu-

tion and activation of this social and

political life in private and in public.

It is clear that woman’s task thus

imderstood cannot be improvised.

Motherly instinct is in her a human in-

stinct, not determined by nature down

to the details of its application. It is

directed by free will and this in turn

is guided by intellect. Hence comes

its moral value and its dignity but

also imperfection which must be com-

pensated for and redeemed by edu-

cation.

Education proper to her sex of the

young girl, and not rarely also of the

grown woman, is therefore a necessary

condition of her preparation and for-

mation for a life worthy of her. The

ideal would evidently be that this edu-

cation should begin with infancy in

the intimacy of the Catholic home un-

der the directions of the mother. It

is, unfortunately, not always the case,

not always possible.

However, it is possible to supply, at

least in part, for this deficiency by

securing for the young girl who of
necessity must work outside the home
one of those occupations which are, to

some extent, a training ground and a

noviceship for the life for which she is

destined. To such a purpose also serve

those schools of domestic economy

which aim at making of the child and

the young girl of today the wife and

mother of tomorrow.

How worthy of praise and encour-
agement are such institutions! They

are one of the,jf forms of activity in

which your motherly sense and weal

can have ample scope and influence and

one, too, of the most precious because

the good" that you do propagates it-

self to infinity, preparing your pupils

to pass on to others in the family, or

out of it, the good which you have

done them. What should we say, be-

sides, of many other kindly offices by

which you come to the aid of mothers

of families in what concerns their

intellectual and religious formation

and in the sad and difficult circum-

stances in which their life moves?

(B) On the practical activation of
woman’s social and political life.

But in your social and political ac-

tivity much depends on the legisla-

tion of the State and the administra-

tion of local bodies. Accordingly,

the electoral ballot in the hands of

Catholic woman is an important means

toward the fulfillment of her strict

duty in conscience, especially at the

present time. The State and politics

have, in fact, precisely the office of se-

curing for the family of every social

class conditions necessary for them to

exist and to evolve as economic, juridi-

cal and moral units. Then the family

will really be the vital nucleus of men

who are earning honestly their tem-

poral and eternal welfare.

[HI



All this, of course, the real woman
easily understands. But what she does

not, and cannot, understand, is that by

politics is meant domination by one

class of others, and the ambitions

striving for ever more extensive eco-

nomic and national empire—on what-
ever pretended motive such ambition

be based. For she knows that such a

policy paves the way to hidden or open

civil war, to the ever-growing ac-

cumulation of armaments and to the

constant danger of war.

She knows from experience that in

any event this policy is harmful to

the family which must pay for it at

a high price in goods and blood. Ac-

cordingly, no wise woman favors a
policy of class struggle or war. Her

vote is a vote for peace. Hence, in

the interest and for the good of the

family she will hold to that norm,

and she will always refuse her vote to

any tendency, from whatever quarter

it hails, to the selfish desires of domi-

nation, internal or external, of the

peace of the nation.

Courage then. Catholic women and
girls! Work without ceasing, without
allowing yourselves ever to be dis-

couraged by difficulties or obstacles.

May you be—under the standard of
Christ the King, under the patronage

of His wonderful Mother—restorers
of home, family and society.

May Divine favors descend on you
in a copious stream; Favors in token

of which We impart to you with all
the affection of Our paternal heart

an Apostolic Benediction.

NATIONAL CATHOLIC WELFARE CONFERENCE

1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington 5, D. C.

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