Continuing his catechesis on the family, Pope Francis dedicated this morning’s general audience to the complementarity between man and woman, saying that a failed alliance between men and woman “makes our emotional life arid and obscures the heaven of hope.”

The Vatican Information Service reports that the pope began his address by recalling how the Book of Genesis insists that both men and women are equal.

“Not only man as such, not only woman as such, but rather man and woman, as a couple, are the image of God. The difference between them is not a question of contrast or subordination, but instead of communion and generation, always in the image and semblance of God,” said the Pope to the thirty thousand faithful present in St. Peter’s Square.

“Experience teaches us that for the human being to know him- or herself well and to grow harmoniously, there is a need for reciprocity between man and woman. When this does not happen, we see the consequences. We are made to listen to each other and to help each other. We can say that, without mutual enrichment in this relationship – in terms of thought and action, in personal relationships and in work, and also in faith – the two cannot even fully understand what it means to be a man and a woman.”

He goes on to address the dictates of modern culture which have “opened up new spaces, new freedoms and new depths for the enrichment and understanding of this difference. But it has also introduced many doubts and much scepticism. I wonder, for example, if so-called gender theory is not an expression of frustration and resignation, that aims to cancel out sexual difference as it is no longer able to face it. Yes, we run the risk of taking a step backwards. Indeed, the removal of difference is the problem, not the solution.”

If we want to solve the problem of learning how to effectively relate with one another, “men and women must instead speak more, listen more, know each other better, value each other more. They must treat each other with respect and cooperate in friendship. With these human bases, supported by God’s grace, it is possible to plan a lifelong matrimonial and family union. The marriage and family bond is a serious matter for all, not only for believers. I would like to encourage intellectuals not to ignore this theme, as if it were secondary to our efforts to promote a freer and more just society.”

He continues by addressing the worrying signs of the increasing failure of the God-intended alliance between men and women which “makes our emotional life arid and obscures the heaven of hope.”

“The signs are already worrying, and we can see them,” the pope said. “I would like to indicate due points, among many, that I believe must concern us with greater urgency”.

For instance, he wondered if the “crisis of collective trust in God” is one of the reasons for the failure of men and women to see one another as equals.

“In effect, the biblical account, with the great symbolic fresco of earthly paradise and original sin, tells us precisely that communion with God is reflected in the communion of the human couple, and the loss of trust in the heavenly Father generates division and conflict between man and woman”.

As a result, this leads to the great responsibility of the Church, of all believers, and above all of Christian families, to rediscover the beauty of the Creator’s plan that inscribes the image of God also in the alliance between man and woman, he said.

If we want to strengthen the reciprocity between men and women, we must do more in favor of women, he said.

“ . . . (I)t is necessary for a woman not only to be listened to, but also for her voice to carry real weight, recognized authority, in society and in the Church. The way in which Jesus Himself regarded women, in a context that was far less favorable than our own, casts a powerful light illuminating a road that takes us far, on which we have traveled only a short distance. It is a road we must travel with more creativity and boldness”.

He concluded by saying that “The earth is filled with harmony and trust when the alliance between man and woman is lived well. And if men and women seek this together between them and with God, without doubt they will find it. Jesus explicitly encourages us to bear witness to this beauty, which is the image of God.”

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