Woman Section   SHEET n. 1 SHEET n. 2                       INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS “Woman and man, the humanum in its entirety” On the 20th anniversary of the Apostolic letter of John Paul II, MULIERIS DIGNITATEM February 7- 9, 2008 Grand Hotel Palazzo Carpegna (former Domus Mariae), Rome PRESENTATION AND PROGRAM GUIDELINE   “Woman and man, the humanum in its entirety”. The title reveals the idea at the heart of the congress: in order to bring about an authentic promotion of woman, the feminine aspect cannot be isolated from its human reality, rather it must be reflected on in light of an anthropology that recovers the value of the person and emphasizes the reciprocal relationship between male and female, while taking into consideration what is specific to each. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH The morning session and first talk of the afternoon are dedicated to a historical excursus on the role of women in the Church. • The first conference will offer an evaluation of the past twenty years since the publication of the Mulieris dignitatem; • Following this will be a reflection on the newness that is established by Jesus of Nazareth with Mary and with women in the Gospel; • What is being sought here is the connection and continuity that Jesus’ approach has with the early Christian community which, being to the Lord’s plan of salvation, did not hesitate to confer to women an important exercise of responsibility within the Christian community as Pope Benedict XVI recently underlined. • The Congress then proceeds with a panel discussion on the theme: “Christianity and the advancement of women”, that by means of historical research, will highlight the decisive impact that has been made by a multitude of women who include martyrs, saints, doctors of the Church, educators, and founders of religious orders; women, who by their lives, ideals, teachings, behavior and deeds have made a fundamental contribution to the Church and to the world. In the second half of the afternoon, there will be an analysis of the theological and anthropological insights that have been offered by John Paul II in Mulieris dignitatem. In this apostolic letter, John Paul II stresses the significance of the “innovation of the Gospel” regarding the man-woman relationship. With a biblical foundation rooted in the letters of St. Paul, John Paul II invites us to go beyond a reading of these passages that interprets them in the key of an exclusive subjection of the wife to her husband, to an interpretation where there is a “mutual subjection of the spouses out of reverence for Christ” (n. 24). By the light of Revelation, the Pontiff aspires to an anthropological view of the “unity of the two”, where there is an equal dignity for man and women with regards to their reciprocal calling and by the essence of their same human nature, but at the same time as masculine and feminine. • At the end of the afternoon, a conference talk will be dedicated to the theme of the Biblical account of creation and the relationship between person, nature and culture; this important them will be taken up again the following day. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8TH • The conference, “Woman and man, created each for the other” will investigate in greater depth the implications of the man-woman relationship from the sociological and psychological perspective. • The panel discussion, entitled, “Problems and Contemporary cultural trends” will stress the urgency of realizing the profound insights that John Paul II has summarized in Mulieris dignitatem . In fact, today’s new cultural paradigm tends to reduce the sexual differences written in the nature of the human person to the point of completely denying the anthropological structure of man and woman. Before this situation of grave disorder, the Church wishes to reaffirm the great value and eminent dignity of women. In the afternoon, the specific theme of femininity will be addressed. • There will be offered a reflection on “Women’s responsibility and participation in building up the Church and society”, as well as • on “The role and mission of women”. The goal will be an analysis of what is specific to the feminine gender and the vocation women realize in the Church and in society based upon two fundamental concerns. The first is that of the vocation of motherhood, which is not merely a biological fact, but also has a deep psychological and spiritual dimension. In this way, the reflection will not attempt to reduce the theme of motherhood to a merely naturalistic perspective as defined by her bodily features, but rather, it will seek to comprehend the body as a manifestation of the spirit. The second concern is that of deepening an understanding of the particular ways in which women can participate in the building of culture within the sphere of the family and education as well as other pivotal dimensions of society, such as social communications, the sciences, the arts, and in public and political life. It is only in light of the vocation to maternity and woman’s specific contribution to culture, that her lay mission and her presence and responsibilities in the Church and the world are brought to their greatest fulfillment. Establishing these two coordinates will help to avoid the risk of separating human nature from its cultural dimension in order that, far from any opposing juxtaposition, these two dimensions can be fully integrated into the female and masculine dimensions. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9TH In the morning, the Holy Father will share in a private audience with the participants his reflections and guidelines regarding the theme of the Congress. In the afternoon, study groups will reflect on the “Predominant challenges as perceived in various parts of the world”. A brief synthesis of their findings will be presented before the close of the Congress.           INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS “Woman and man, the humanum in its entirety” On the 20th anniversary of the Apostolic letter of John Paul II, MULIERIS DIGNITATEM February 7- 9, 2008 - Grand Hotel Palazzo Carpegna (former Domus Mariae), Rome TWENTY YEARS SINCE MULIERIS DIGNITATEM • In 2008 we reach the twentieth anniversary of the Apostolic Letter Mulieris dignitatem by John Paul II on the dignity and vocation of women. This letter is in perfect continuity with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. • Already John the XXIII in Pacem in Terris held that the presence of women in the Church and in society was one of the sign of the times. • The Second Vatican Council encouraged a much wider participation of women not only in the cultural and social sphere, but also in the ecclesial sphere. In the decree Apostolicam actuositatem we read: “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” (no. 9). And in the Closing speech of the Second Vatican Council, an ample part was dedicated to women, recalling her mission of service to humanity during at a moment when the “human race is under-going so deep a transformation”, stating: “women impregnated with the spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid mankind in not falling”. Women were entrusted the mission of “reconciling men with life” and “to safeguard the peace of the world”. In addition, it recognized that it has been “women who so often in history 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 undertakings, while at the same time maintaining patience and an esteem for humble beginnings”. The Church’s concern with the authentic promotion of women does not end with Vatican II. • In 1973, Paul VI, instituted the Study Commission on women in society and in the Church. This Commission, entrusted to The Pontifical Council for the Laity six years after its establishment, is the response to an explicit request from the Synod of Bishops and in view of the International Year of women proclaimed by the United Nations in 1975. From then on, the voice of the Holy See has not been lacking and has made a specific contribution with its pronouncements in occasion of the UN world conferences with regards to women’s issues such as those held in Mexico (1975), Copenhagen ( 1980), Nairobi (1985) and Beijing (1995). • In 1987, John Paul II in the encyclical Redemptoris Mater, proposes Mary as a model of life for men and especially for women. • In 1988, John Paul II published Mulieris dignitatem in response to the wishes of the Synod of Bishops concerning the participation of the laity in the life of the Church and in particular to study more profoundly the role of women therein. It is significant that this letter was written during the Marian Year, a providential time to look at the theme of women while looking at Our Lady. In this path of reflection, Mulieris dignitatem is a milestone. For the first time, a pontifical document was entirely dedicated to the topic of women. John Paul II proceeds with an anthropological analysis in the light of Revelation in order to derive, both from the first chapters of Genesis and from the words and actions of Jesus Christ, fundamental truths like the equal dignity of men and women created in the image of God, the unity of the two and the call to communion, the importance of complementarity and reciprocity between men and women, the appreciation of the feminine “genius”, the figure of Mary as a model for women, and the total fulfillment of human beings called to holiness. • In the same year, the post-synodal exhortation Christifidelis laici takes into account the interest of the synod with regard to women inviting all to “acknowledge and to invite all others to once again acknowledge the indispensable contribution of women to the building up of the Church and the development of society” as well as “to work on a more specific analysis of women's participation in the life and mission of the Church” (n. 49). • In 1995 John Paul II, after having dedicated the them for the message of the World Day of Peace to “Woman, educator of peace”, writes a letter addressed to all women with occasion of the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women, in order “to reflect with her on the problems and the prospects of what it means to be a woman in our time”, stimulating a reflection on the "genius of women" in order to let this genius be more fully expressed in the life of society as a whole, as well as in the life of the Church. The Pope noted that with regards to the great process of women's promotion, "the journey has been a difficult and complicated one and, at times, not without its share of mistakes. But it has been substantially a positive one, even if it is still unfinished, due to the many obstacles which, in various parts of the world, still prevent women from being acknowledged, respected, and appreciated in their own special dignity". • In 2004 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published a letter on the collaboration of men and women in the Church and in the world, further developing themes previously faced by John Paul II in his letter to Women. • In 2007, Benedict XVI addressed the theme “Women at the service of the Gospel” studying the many female figures who played an effective and precious role in spreading the Gospel from early Christianity until the present in his Wednesday General Audience of February 14. This is but one of his many expressions on behalf of the Church for the contribution women has made to the Church and society. • In 2008, on occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Mulieris dignitatem, the Pontifical Council for the Laity, with this international conference on the theme: “Woman and man, the humanum in its entirety”, is again taking up this in-depth study of the relationship man-woman and the participation of women in the mission of the Church. Its main objectives are: - to review the progress made over the past twenty years in the field of the advancement of women and the recognition of their dignity; - to open up a reflection in the light of revelation on the new cultural paradigms and on the difficulties faced by Catholic women in living according to their identity and in collaborating in fruitful reciprocity with men in building up the Church and society; - to remind women of the beauty of the vocation to holiness, encouraging them to respond to it with increasing awareness and, as players in the mission of the Church, to place at the service of the apostolate, family, workplace and culture, all the richness of the feminine “genius”. • It is quite evident that, twenty years after Mulieris dignitatem, the language and contents of the magisterium of John Paul II have been well assimilated and have created a perspective of renewed appreciation of women and a keener awareness of the importance of reciprocity between men and women.

 

Pontificio Consiglio per i Laici - Un dicastero della Curia romana al servizio dei fedeli laici
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