Pope Francis has denounced violence against women at the New Year's Day Mass, and has defended that the Church must give them more space and “rediscover its feminine face.” “Whoever hurts a woman profanes God, born of a woman,” Bergoglio condemned. And he recalled: “Every society needs to embrace the gift of women, of each woman: respect her, care for her, value her.”
On January 1, Christianity dedicates the day to the Virgin, which is why the Pontiff opened the year with a mass in the basilica in which he praised the role of Mary and women in the Church. Francis made reference in his speech to papal texts, such as the encyclical Lumen gentium (1964) that Paul VI wrote at the revolutionary Second Vatican Council, and noted that “the Church needs Mary to rediscover her own feminine face, to become more like her who, as a woman, Virgin and Mother, represents her model and figure. perfect; to give space to women and to be generative through a pastoral care made of care and concern, of patience and maternal courage.”
The Pontiff also spoke about the rest of the world during the solemn mass and before the senior staff of the Roman curia, other authorities and the thousands of faithful gathered in the temple: “The world also needs to look to mothers and women to find peace.” , to escape the spirals of violence and hatred, and once again have human eyes and hearts that see.”
“Our time, empty of peace, needs a Mother who reunites the human family. Let us look to Mary to be builders of unity,” Francis insisted.
During his pontificate, Francis has taken steps to expand women's responsibilities in the Church and has appointed several women to leadership positions in the curia. For example, the Italian nun Alessandra Smerilli was appointed in 2021 as undersecretary of the dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, the highest position held by a woman in the Holy See.
This year also saw the assembly of the first synod of the Church in which women and lay people have the right to vote. The meeting concluded with a document that demands more positions of power for them and with the commitment to present conclusions on the female diaconate in one year.
Violence and femicides
Francis has denounced violence against women numerous times, but on this occasion in Italy it has been received in a particular way, since at this moment the country is in full examination of conscience on how to neutralize a deep-rooted sexist culture that sometimes leads to in femicides. The brutal murder of a 22-year-old university student at the hands of her ex-partner has activated an unusual awareness in society. The crime has provoked protests throughout the country and has opened the debate on the need to legislate and implement initiatives in schools to stop sexist violence.
According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, more than a hundred women were murdered in 2023, 96 of them at the hands of their partner or ex-partner. Femicide has become a common word in newspaper headlines in recent months.
In Italy there is a climate of awareness also indirectly favored by the premiere of the dramatic comedy C'è ancora domaniabout the emancipation of women and women's suffrage in 1946. The film is on its way to becoming the most viewed film in the history of the country and is already used as a teaching tool in schools throughout the country.
Since 1967, the Church has also celebrated the World Day of Peace on New Year's Eve. A few weeks before, the Pope published a special message for this day, which on this occasion addressed the risks of artificial intelligence. “Artificial intelligence must be understood as a galaxy of different realities and we cannot presume a priori May its development make a beneficial contribution to the future of humanity and peace among peoples. “Such a positive result will only be possible if we are able to act responsibly,” said the Pontiff. According to Francisco, technological and scientific progress is allowing “a control over reality never seen until now” and “putting in the hands of man a vast range of possibilities, some of which represent a risk to human survival and a danger to the common house.”
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