Pray with the Pope: The Dignity of Women
Fr Chris Chatteris SJ & Gillian Hugo reflect on Pope Francis’ prayer intention for April
Intention: Let us pray that the dignity and worth of women be recognised in every culture, and for an end to the discrimination they face in various parts of the world.
The role of women in all cultures is vast and varied and by no means more or less important than men’s roles.
Women do, however, seem to get a raw deal in some cultures and are often treated in degrading ways. It is a fact that many of the poorest and most deprived people in the world are women. Yet, despite this, women’s perseverance and commitment to caring for children and others hardly ever fails.
Even when women receive an education and move into the professions — and although they are generally better protected from prejudice and discrimination than in the past — they can still meet with resistance from their male colleagues. Indeed, for some men, the very fact that women are as well or better educated than they are can be threatening. The resentment is often disguised as a notion of the supposed importance of maintaining traditional roles.
However, no matter whether she is a mother, sister, wife, carer or breadwinner, every woman deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. The role she plays carries great importance to one or many, and in most instances, this role is carried out with self-sacrificing love.
Changing old-school views
As a teacher in the seminary, Fr Chris would sometimes ask his students whether they thought their grandmothers, mothers and sisters were made in the image of God. All would answer with an unhesitating “Yes” — a “yes” that he would just leave hanging in the air for the more thoughtful among them to allow it to dialogue with their sometimes rather old-school views about the place of women in society and the Church.
So, no woman anywhere should ever be devalued and at the receiving end of violence or discrimination. Anyone who thinks they are better than a woman because of their race, gender, education, career, religious or social status should take a good look at themselves and reflect on their distorted image of women; there is no “weaker sex”! We were all created equally in the image of God.
And Jesus himself treated all women, those in his life and those whom he encountered on his journeys, with respect and dignity. Let us pray that all women of every nation and culture are loved, cherished and cared for, irrespective of their role, position or life choices.
Published in April 2024 issue of The Southern Cross magazine
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