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PAPAL DIRECTIVES FOR THE WOMAN OF TODAY
Pope Pius XII
- Allocution to the Congress of the International
Union of Catholic Women's Leagues,
Rome,
Italy,
September 11, 1947.
 You
have come before Us, dear women, bearing the proudly daring name,
International Union of Catholic Women's Leagues. We are happy to welcome you
as such and to give you a few words of encouragement and counsel. This name
certainly speaks for the militant character of your coalition, its
universality, the harmonious and solid suppleness of your collaboration.
Catholic women and girls, formerly you would have thought only of worthily
playing your sacred and fruitful role in the management of a wholesome,
strong, and radiant home; or you would have consecrated your life to the
service of God in the composure of the cloister or in apostolic and
charitable works. Beautiful ideals, where woman, in her proper place, and
from her proper place, exercises quietly a powerful influence. But now you
appear abroad, you enter the arena to take part in the battle: you have not
sought to do so, but courageously you accept your new duties, not as
resigned victims nor merely in a defensive spirit; you are determined to
pass to the counter-attack and conquer.
Such
is the thought which emerges from the substantial documents, in which your
programs of action are set forth, and in which are clearly drawn the lines
of discussion of your present congress. This rich documentation reflects, as
in a mirror, the actual situation—one must say, alas, the actual drama of
woman's world. Towards the center converge all the rays of activity of woman
in her social and political life, an activity of which the object is above
all else, to protect the dignity of the daughter, of the wife, of the
mother; to preserve the home, the family, the child in their primordial
order; to safeguard the rights of the family, and make all efforts bear
toward the safekeeping of the child under the guardianship of his parents.
We
Ourselves discussed, two years ago, this important subject of the role of
woman in social and political life. For an evolution in the entire social
order, and more particularly in a domain as many-sided and important as that
of the role of woman, two years is a very short time and would seem
insufficient, to bring about appreciable changes in the situation itself or
in public opinion concerning it. And yet, witness the facts. We had pointed
out the menacing dangers, and We then referred especially to what might be
called the secularization, the materialization, the enslavement of woman,
all the attacks directed against her dignity and rights as a person and as a
Christian. The dangers have become greater day by day, and the menace day by
day more pressing. But on the other hand, God be praised, the efforts for
defense, far from weakening, have been more and more intensified. Your
meeting in Rome, your presence here before Us, are a solemn warrant both of
the seriousness of those efforts and of their efficacy for this defense.
Strengthened by the experience of the past years, and going over the
principal points of your program, We readily seize this opportunity to
complete what We said then to the Catholic women of
Italy.
The years of World War II and the post-war years have presented and continue
to present to woman, in entire groups of nations, in practically all parts
of the world, a tragic picture without precedent. Never, We believe, never
in the course of the history of humanity, have events required on the part
of woman so much initiative and daring, so much sense of responsibility, so
much fidelity, moral strength, spirit of sacrifice and endurance of all
kinds of sufferings—in a word, so much heroism. The relations, the letters
in which women reveal to Us what has been and still is, in these cruel
times, their own fate and the fate of their family, are so impressing that
one questions whether this be a nightmare, and asks oneself how such things
can have happened in our time and in the world in which we live. In the
course of these awful years, women, old and young, have been forced to
practice more than manly virtues, and to practice them to a degree required
of men only in extraordinary circumstances.
Now,
who will pretend that all that is humanly possible has been done to enable
woman to draw from the Christian faith, from Christian education, the
energy, the patience, the perseverance, the supernatural help needed to keep
without faltering under continual trials, conjugal fidelity, and a maternal
solicitude? On the part of the Church, of the pastoral ministry, of
charitable institutions much has been done, much has been accomplished.
Despite a few individual failures, we can face with confidence the always
severe judgment of history. Moreover, thousands of deeds have movingly shown
and continue to show even in the midst of want, the boundless love of
mothers and fathers for their children.
But
here is the great tragedy: without the faith, without Christian education,
deprived of the help of the Church, where can bewildered woman find the
courage to face unfalteringly moral demands surpassing purely human
strength? And that under blasting assaults against the Christian foundations
of marriage, of the family, of all personal and social life, by enemies who
know how to exploit in poor women and young girls the anguish and
destitution which are theirs. Who could hope to see them always hold fast
through their mere natural strength? Alas! how many have fallen! Only God
knows the number of these poor waifs, left to their despair after the loss
of their purity, their honor.
It is
a sorrow and a shame to have to mention and confess that even among
Catholics, false doctrines on the dignity of woman, on marriage and the
family, on conjugal fidelity and divorce, even on life and death, have
stealthily infiltrated souls, and like gnawing worms have attacked the roots
of the Christian family and of the Christian ideals of womanhood.
It
seems opportune to Us to point out here, because their inoffensive and
specious appearance hide their fatal consequences, the perils of the heart
to which in our day, woman is particularly exposed. We are thinking of that
generous tendency that makes us sympathize with others, and share in their
sorrows, their joys and their hopes. So said
St. Paul:
"Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I am not
inflamed?" (2 Corinthians. 11:29) And how he advises us to have the feelings which
filled Christ! (Philippines 2:5 )
What
does a heart so filled have to fear? Subtle illusions. It is not enough to
be good, tender, generous; one must also be wise and strong. The indulgent
weakness of parents blinds them, to the detriment of their children. In the
social order, a similar sentimentality blinds the mind and leads it to hold
monstrous theories and to extol immoral and fatal practices. Is it not such
false pity which claims to justify euthanasia and to remove from man
purifying and meritorious suffering, not by a charitable and praiseworthy
help but by death, as if one were dealing with an irrational animal without
immortality? Is it not again this misleading sentimentality which offers
divorce as a remedy to unhappy wives? Is it not that deviation from a just
solicitude for the victims of social injustice which, with vain and
declamatory promises, snatches them from the maternal arms of the Church to
throw them into the claws of an atheistic materialism, vulgar exploiter of
their poverty?
From
all parts of the world, the letters and visits of Our Episcopal Brethren
bring Us from day to day heartrending confidences of their concern for the
moral and spiritual distress of married and unmarried women. And, while each
one in turn opens his heart to Us, the burden of all weighs upon Ours which
carries before God the responsibility of the Supreme Shepherd (solicitude omnium ecclesiarum)(2 Corinthians 11:28). That is why on many occasions, in Our
messages during all these years, and recently again on the second of June in
Our allocution to the Sacred College, We have warned, prayed and entreated
all Christians, all upright souls, and in particular all those in public
affairs, to give attention to the devastating work done during the war and
after the war, toward the ruin of woman and of the family. At this moment,
We experience much consolation and relief in expressing to you, dear women,
gathered here from the whole Catholic world. Our concern and Our appeal,
knowing well with what spirit of faith and charity you listen and with what
glowing zeal you will everywhere make it known.
Witnesses of such a grave crisis, We cannot be content with lamenting it or
forming sterile wishes. What must be done is to unite and to direct the
living zeal of all toward the saving of the education of women and of the
Christian family. That is the object of your congress, here in
Rome,
at the very center of Christendom. You have wished to receive from Us some
directions for the practical and efficacious carrying out of your
resolutions. We shall express them and group them as follows:
I. A Lively and
Supernatural Faith
First
of all, a faith proud, alert, fearless, firm and alive to truth, to the
triumph of Catholic doctrine. The intellectual and political forces more or
less impregnated with atheism are set to destroy Christian civilization.
Facing them, we perceive the many for whom the specifically religious
foundations of that Christian civilization are out of date and henceforth
without objective value, but who would nevertheless preserve something of
their prestige to safeguard a civic order which cannot survive without them.
Lifeless or paralyzed bodies, they cannot block the subversive forces of
atheism!
But
you, you are completely otherwise! Surely the battle will be hard,
especially the battle for the rights of the family, the dignity of woman,
the child, and the school. But you have nature on your side, and
consequently those of right mind and good sense, who are after all the
majority—you have, above all, God. Bear witness then to the thought of
St. Paul:
Your faith has made of you heroes in the fight (Hebrews 11:33 ff).
We
call firm faith: an absolute faith, without reservations or reticence, a
faith which does not falter before the ultimate consequences of truth, which
does not draw back from its most rigorous applications. Do not let
yourselves be deceived, like so many others, after thousands of disastrous
experiences, with the empty hope of winning over the adversary by walking in
his wake and taking him as your model.
Your
young generation expresses, in its charter[1] the hope of "rallying to your
principles all the young women of the world who accept as a foundation the
natural law which has its source in God, and even more surely all those who,
being Christian, believe in Christ the Redeemer." We applaud your spirit,
your youthful optimism, and approve your intention. But take care: the great
secret of winning others is, above all, to give them evidence that for a
Catholic, her faith is a solid and living reality.
Furthermore, a firm and living faith is one which, day by day, is expressed
in acts of humility, prayer, and sacrifice. Precisely because you intend to
battle the anti-Christian forces which are "totalitarian," the first
condition is to oppose them by carrying out in your life the law of God
spontaneously, joyously, and fully accepted. To take this law lightly, would
be a confession of a deplorable frivolity and a fatal instability. Do not
forget it:—We now address those who because of their age and social
environment are more especially exposed to these dangers—no matter how well
intentioned you may be, you share like others the weakness of a fallen
nature. Satan does not accept defeat: as in
Eden, he continues to cajole woman to
her downfall, playing upon her nature to seduce her. You know the world of
today well enough, dear daughters, to realize that you yourselves who live
in it, need strength and courage at each step, to triumph over the
temptations and seductions of your own tendencies by an energetic "No!" But
how can you say this "no" and repeat it tirelessly, unless you understand
and humbly recognize, in the presence of God, that as human creatures you
are powerless and need the grace of God. Now you cannot expect to obtain
this grace without prayer and sacrifice.
You
who so praiseworthily wish to lead an apostolic life, each according to her
individual situation, know well enough the world of today to realize that in
your battle against unbelief and immorality, natural resources and all
purely human means are radically insufficient. What you absolutely need is
an intimate union with Christ, and that intimate union absolutely
presupposes prayer and sacrifice.
Every
step you have taken here in
Rome must have left a profound
impression on your minds and in your hearts, recalling to you the lives of
the early Christians. Those Christians were men and women who understood
what is meant by sacrifice; otherwise they could not have won over hatred,
irreligion, and lust, the splendid triumphs the telling of which fills you
with admiration, as it fills with amazement even the unbeliever. Are
conditions today so different? As has been well said: to live today in our
great cities without loss of faith and purity requires no less heroism than
was needed in the days of bloody persecution.
II. No False
Spirituality
If We
mention this subject it is not that We believe that you personally need to
be put on your guard. We can have, thank God, full confidence in you on that
score.
But
under the pretense of saving the Church from the risk of being led astray in
the "temporal" sphere, a slogan launched some ten years ago, continues to
gain acceptance: return to the purely "spiritual." And by that is understood
that the Church should confine her activities to a purely dogmatic teaching,
to the offering of the Holy Sacrifice, the administration of the sacraments,
and that all incursion into, or even the right of examination in the domain
of public life, all intervention in the civil or social order, should be
denied her. As if dogma did not have a bearing upon every aspect of human
life, as if the mysteries of the faith with their supernatural wealth, were
not to maintain and invigorate the lives of individuals and, as a logical
consequence, to harmonize public life with the law of God, to impregnate it
with the spirit of Christ! Such vivisection is nothing short of being
anti-Catholic.
The
slogan should be the very opposite: be present everywhere for the faith, for
Christ, in every way and to the utmost possible limit, wherever vital
interests are at stake, wherever laws bearing on the worship of God,
marriage, the family, the school, the social order are proposed and
discussed. Be there, on guard and in action, whenever through education the
soul of a people is being forged. Unfortunately, too often in such crises
Catholic organizations are conspicuous only by their absence. Consequently,
there is a heavy responsibility on everyone, man or woman, who has the right
to vote, especially when the interests of religion are at stake; abstention
in this case is in itself, it should be thoroughly understood, a grave and a
fatal sin of omission. On the contrary, to exercise, and exercise well,
one's right to vote is to work effectively for the true good of the people,
as loyal defenders of the cause of God and of the Church.
III. Fidelity in
Social Activity to the Social Program of the Church
Many
times recently We have emphasized this recommendation because, even among
Catholics, there have been tendencies to identify the doctrine of the Church
with theories irreconcilable with Christian thought.
In
drawing exactly the line of demarcation between Christian thought and such
theories, the Church always has in mind the good of all the people, the
genuine common good. When questions of just social demands arise, she is
always in the vanguard of their promotion. This is especially true for those
which you, dear daughters, set forth expressly in your program: a more
equitable distribution of wealth has always been and will always remain a
chief objective of Catholic social doctrine. We can say as much for
"equality of salary, for men and women, provided there be equal work and
output." The Church has long made that demand her own.
IV. The Place and
Role of Woman in Political Life
There
remains to be considered the domain of political life. In many
circumstances, We have already touched upon it. This domain has several
distinct aspects: the safeguard and care of the sacred interests of woman,
by means of legislation and administration that respects her rights,
dignity, and social function—the participation of some women in political
life for the good, the welfare, and the progress of all.
Your
own role is, in general, to work toward making woman always more conscious
of her sacred rights, of her duties, and of her power to help mold public
opinion, through her daily contacts, and to influence legislation and
administration by the proper use of her prerogatives as citizen. Such is
your common role. It does not mean that you are all to have political
careers as members of public assemblies. Most of you must continue to give
the greater part of your time and of your loving attention to the care of
your homes and families. We must not forget that the making of a home in
which all feel at ease and happy, and the bringing up of children are very
special contributions to the common welfare. So we rejoice in the fact,
which you yourselves rightly recorded, that among rural families, which are
still such a large part of society, woman's work in the home still goes hand
in hand with her contribution to the social and national economy.
Those
among you who have more leisure and are suitably prepared, will take up the
burden of public life and be, as it were, your delegated representatives.
Give them your confidence, understand their difficulties, the hard work and
sacrifices their devotion entails; give them your help and support.
Little
need be added, in closing, to emphasize what We first noted: the
universality, the harmonious and solid suppleness of your collaboration. It
is universal, without distinction of nationality, class, or condition. It is
supple and harmonious because it is made up of works, organizations, and
institutions which, though varied, individually keep their character, their
specific activities, their integrity, and their proper sphere of action,
without absorption, domination or subjection, but all united in a federation
freely accepted for common action. Nothing could be more in keeping with Our
intentions.
And
this special contribution of each to the common purpose, is further
extended, made more cohesive and effective through your Bureau of
Information, a happy undertaking requiring no doubt much work from those in
charge but unquestionably most fruitful.
Three
days ago, We celebrated the Nativity of Her whose coming brought to the
whole world the dawn of joy. Tomorrow We shall celebrate Her glorious Name
and the memory of the victories won in that Name over the enemies of
Christendom. May Mary, Auxilium Christianorum, be your strength in
the battle for the restoration of a healthy and prosperous society, for the
triumph of God and of the Church. We invoke Her with all Our heart in your
behalf.
We
give to you all, and to all who are united with you, to your works and
institutions, as well as to your families, and to all who are dear to you,
Our Apostolic Blessing.
ENDNOTES
1.
Charter, Youth Section. I.U.C.W.L.
Provided Courtesy of:
Eternal Word Television Network
5817 Old Leeds Road
Irondale, AL 35210
www.ewtn.com
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