Each year, International Women’s Day shines a spotlight on the women that keep things going, often quietly, and often without seeking credit.
Nowhere is this more true than in the Catholic Church itself. In this country, women are the backbone of the Church. You’re likely to find women doing everything from serving as readers, to doing the cleaning. They’ll more often than not run the catechetical courses, work with children, make and serve the refreshments, and so much more. Women have also been the backbone of the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic, as nurses, doctors, key workers and first-responders.
The young women we work with are some of the most inspirational individuals. Take Shanea, from Newham in East London, for instance. Shanea witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of knife crime, when she was a first responder to a teenager who had been stabbed. It would have been easy, and understandable for Shanea to grow desensitized to such violence happening around her, but instead, Shanea vowed to be the change she wanted to see in her community. She has since led on peace-building efforts within her community, including facilitating dialogue between young people in Newham, and political representatives.
Young women like Shanea are the future of our Church, and of our world. And as young people, they will now face unprecedented economic and educational prospects, as a result of the pandemic.
The cause of women is surely one of the most important social issues of our time, from the perspective of Catholic Social Teaching. We know that women are underpaid and continue to be undervalued in our own society; internationally, the face of poverty in the Global South is that of a woman of colour; and women continue to be underrepresented in the institutions around us, such as in politics, and even sometimes in lay leadership in the Catholic Church. And these have implications for young people, especially young women, growing up today.
Indeed, in the words of the Holy Father himself: ‘Some young women feel that there is a lack of leading female role models within the Church and they too wish to give their intellectual and professional gifts to the Church.’ (Christus Vivit, 245)
To date, he has spoken of the ‘precious contribution’ that women make to the Church, and has enabled women to take a more active and recognized role in the life of the Church. And in Fratelli Tutti, his encyclical of 2020, the Holy Father made one of his most powerful statements to date on the subject:
Similarly, the organization of societies worldwide is still far from reflecting clearly that women possess the same dignity and identical rights as men. We say one thing with words, but our decisions and reality tell another story. Indeed, “doubly poor are those women who endure situations of exclusion, mistreatment and violence, since they are frequently less able to defend their rights” (Fratelli Tutti, 23)
…it is unacceptable that some have fewer rights by virtue of being women, it is likewise unacceptable that the mere place of one’s birth or residence should result in his or her possessing fewer opportunities for a developed and dignified life. (Fratelli Tutti, 121)
This built on his commitment to the rights of women in his letter to young people, from 2019, where he said:
‘a Church that is overly fearful and tied to its structures can be invariably critical of efforts to defend the rights of women, and constantly point out the risks and the potential errors of those demands. Instead, a living Church can react by being attentive to the legitimate claims of those women who seek greater justice and equality. A living Church can look back on history and acknowledge a fair share of male authoritarianism, domination, various forms of enslavement, abuse and sexist violence. With this outlook, she can support the call to respect women’s rights, and offer convinced support for greater reciprocity between males and females, while not agreeing with everything some feminist groups propose. Along these lines, the Synod sought to renew the Church’s commitment “against all discrimination and violence on sexual grounds”. That is the response of a Church that stays young and lets herself be challenged and spurred on by the sensitivities of young people.’ (Christus Vivit, 42)
In the words of Dorothy Day: “The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?”
And the fight for women across the globe to have access to the same justice and equality as men depends as much on the ‘revolution of the heart’ as it does on institutional changes. Every day, we have to strive to be the sort of Church that both retains and develops the potential, talent and energies of young women like Shanea who offer us a glimpse of what the world could be.
So this International Women’s Day, we call on you to stand in solidarity with women, in your own community and afar, young and old, from all the rich different backgrounds that make us such a diverse and beautiful family, just as the Holy Father himself has done.
Daisy Srblin, Director of Million Minutes
