While addressing members of a plenary assembly on women in Rome on Saturday, Pope Francis said the time to rise to the challenge of finding new ways for women to be full participants in both social and ecclesial life “can no longer be postponed.”

Vatican Radio is reporting on the pope’s message to members of the assembly which met in Rome from February 4-7 to discuss “Women’s Cultures: Equality and Difference.”

In his remarks, the pope called for a “more widespread and incisive female presence” in the Church “so that we can see many women involved in pastoral responsibilities, in the accompaniment of persons, families and groups, as well as in theological reflection.”

He continued: “I have in mind and I encourage the contribution of many women who work in the family, in the field of faith education, in pastoral activity, in education, but also in social, cultural and economic structures. You, women, know how to show the tender face of God, his mercy, which translates in the availability to give time more than to occupy spaces, to welcome rather than to exclude. In this sense, I like to describe the feminine dimension of the Church as a welcoming womb that regenerates life.”

However, the woman’s role in the family is irreplaceable and cannot be forgotten. Even though they should be encouraged to enter the public square and be involved in outside work, their “presence and preferential attention for the family” must be upheld.

“The qualities of gentleness, of particular sensitivity and tenderness, which is abundant in the female soul, represent not only a genuine force for the life of families, for the irradiation of a climate of peace and harmony, but also a reality without which the human vocation would be unfeasible,” he said.

This does not mean that women should be left alone to "carry the burden" of having to decide between family and career.

“Rather, all institutions, including the ecclesial community, are called to ensure freedom of choice for women, so that they have the possibility to take on social and ecclesial responsibilities in a way that is in harmony with family life.”

The Holy Father also commented on the perception and treatment of a woman’s body in culture and society, saying that while it recalls the beauty and harmony that God granted the female body, it also recalls “the painful wounds” inflicted on women, “sometimes with brutal violence.”

Such is the case with human trafficking and domestic violence when “the female body is unfortunately, not infrequently, attacked and disfigured, even by those who should be guardians and companions in life,” he said.

“The many forms of slavery, of commodification, of mutilation of women's bodies, oblige us therefore to work to defeat this form of degradation, which reduces (a woman’s body) to a mere object to sell on various markets.”

He also drew attention to women who live in poverty and who are forced to live in dangerous and exploitative conditions who are “relegated to the margins of society and made victims of a culture of waste.”

Full text of Pope’s remarks can be heard here.

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