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The Second Vatican Council declared in its closing message, "The hour is coming, in fact
has come, when the vocation of women is being acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in
which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto
achieved. That is why at this moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a
transformation, women imbued with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid
And so Pope John Paul II, on the occasion of the 1988 Marian Year, promulgates this
truth regarding women in his Apostolic Letter On the Dignity and Vocation of Women. In this
unique document, the Pope brings together thinking from a range of previous writings,
from his popular Theology of the Body to his Marian theology to his heartfelt social
fully appropriate to the Marian year of 1988 and even to his entire pontificate, John Paul
insists on beginning and ending the conversation on the dignity and vocation of women
John Paul begins, "Mary -- the 'woman' of the Bible -- intimately belongs to the salvific
mystery of Christ, and is therefore also present in special way in the mystery of the
Church ...' the special presence of the Mother of God in the mystery of the Church makes
us think of the exceptional link between this 'woman' and the whole human family" (Paragraph 2).
In his Letter to the Galatians, St. Paul exclaims, "When the time had fully come, God
sent forth his son born of a woman" (Gal 4:4). This event, the incarnation of the Eternal
Word, marks the central event in salvation history. It is significant, in referring to this
event, that St. Paul calls Mary not by her name but by the title, "woman." In this way,
he properly links this central event with the first Gospel, the Proto-evangelium, found in
Genesis, "I will put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel" (Gen 3:15).
Mary is that "woman." She is the one through whom the central event of the incarnation
is realized. Indeed, John Paul says, "A woman is to be found at the center of this salvific
It may be easy to minimize Mary's roll in salvation history, to put her on or below the
same plane as those chosen by God to play special rolls in the history of Israel, but we
must be careful to separate Mary's roll from those privileged prophets that went before
her. While the prophets brought God's word to the people, only Mary brought God's
Word to the entire human race. Mary's union with God exceeds all unions in human
history and even pre-history. It even exceeds the expectations of the woman that was to
bring the Messiah into the world, because Mary brought so much more than the
expected Messiah, but the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, the very Word.
In this way, the dignity of women is brought to the forefront of Christianity. The Pope
says, "Thus the 'fullness of time' manifests the extraordinary dignity of the 'woman.' On
the one hand, this dignity consists in the supernatural elevation to union with God in Jesus
Christ, which determines the ultimate finality of the existence of every person both on
earth and in eternity. From this point of view, the 'woman' is the representative and the
archetype of the whole human race: she represents the humanity which belongs to all human
Woman is the "archetype of the whole human race." Why? Because all of us, whether
male or female, are called to perfect union with God. Not only in spirit, but in body as
well, which is why the Creed boldly, and to the Jews of Jesus' time controversially, claims
the "resurrection of the body" for all of us. This receptivity to God, to the gift of
existence in Him, is built into the very nature of femininity, and it is the woman (Mary)
who first experienced this union. She truly, then, is Theotkos, or Mother of God, and at the
Not only does Mary elevate the dignity of women, but she also fulfills what it means to be
woman. The grace that was granted to Mary does not cancel out her nature as woman.
Grace never "casts nature aside" but instead builds upon it and perfects it. It is true,
then, that the "fullness of grace" offered to the Virgin of Nazareth "also signifies the
(paragraph 5). "Here we find ourselves," John Paul says, "at the culminating point, the
archetype, of the personal dignity of women." And again, "This reality also determines
the essential horizon of reflection on the dignity and the vocation of women."
The Pope continues, "The dignity of every human being and the vocation corresponding
to that dignity find their definitive measure in union with God. Mary, the woman of the
Bible," the woman first spoken of in Genesis, "is the most complete expression of this
dignity and vocation. For no human being, male or female, created in the image and
likeness of God, can in any way attain fulfillment apart from this image and likeness"
(paragraph 5). Hence, our Blessed Lady, Theotkos, our Mother whom Christ entrusted to
us at the foot of the cross, "Woman behold your son. Son behold your mother" ... she
becomes also our model of dignity ... our model of what it means to be fully human.
We move then from Mary, the definitive woman if you will, back "to the beginning,"
back to Original Woman, that is Eve. We find in the book of Genesis, "God created man
in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them"
(Gn 1:27). This passage contains the fundamental truths regarding man and his place in
the created universe. Certainly, man is the high point of all creation. Both man and
woman are human beings to equal degrees. Both are persons, and both are made in the
In the second account of creation, we read about the creation of woman from the rib of
Adam. It is significant that the biblical word for man before the creation of woman was a
gender-neutral word ('adam'). It isn't until after the creation of woman ('issah) that man is
referred to as specifically male ('is). Thus, the man before the creation of woman is
representative of all of humanity. And this person finds himself alone, without a suitable
It is fitting, then, that woman was created out of the rib of Adam. She was not made
from his head as one to rule over him. Nor was she made from his heel as one to be ruled
by him. But she was made from his side, as a partner. "At last bone of my bone and flesh
of my flesh." Man sees woman and exclaims the presence of another "I", another subject
with common humanity. The solitude he experienced before has now been replaced by a
common union with another, or "communion" is you will. Man and woman are mutual
We now touch on a topic at the center of much of John Paul's thinking. "Person-
Communion-Gift." He begins with the concept of the Person, both male and female, as
one made in the image and likeness of God. However, being a Person necessarily leads
to communion with another Person. Most commonly this is the union of man and
woman (though we can speak of the ultimate union of man with the Person of God). And
the fulfillment of this common union, or communion, is the total gift of oneself to the
other.
John Paul says it like this, "The fact that man 'created as man and woman' in the image
and likeness of God' means not only that each of them individually is like God ... It also
means that man and woman, created as a 'unity of the two' in their common humanity,
are called to live in a communion of love, and in this way to mirror in the world the
communion of love that is in God, through which the Three Persons love each other in
This thinking is revolutionary in the theology of the Trinity. Historically, "made in the
image and likeness of God" is seen in the context of the individual person. While this is
certainly true, John Paul is in no way denying this truth, he claims that the image and
likeness is also seen in the call to communion. God, being a Trinitarian God, is in His
very essence a God of communion, a relational God. This aspect of God is imaged in the
love, the communio personarum (communion of persons) between a man and a woman.
And this communion must, in order to be a communion of love, lead to the idea of "gift."
Gaudium et Spes, the Vatican II Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern
World says, "Man can only find himself through a sincere gift of himself" (G.S. 24).
elevates the dignity of woman, and that of man, to the divine. The very dignity and
another Person. And once again, we can't help but return to Mary, the perfect model of
gift. She, in her fiat, in her "let it be done unto me according to thy word," models for us
And in the beginning, it was so with Eve. Unfortunately, with the entry of sin, man
rejects the very gift of life in God, the gift of communion, by willing to decide for himself
what is good and what is evil independently from his Creator. John Paul says, "Sin brings
about a break in the original unity which man enjoyed in the state of original justice"
(paragraph 9).
Sin destroys the idea of "Person-Communion-Gift." And what's more, Genesis tells us
that the effects of sin necessarily attack the very dignity of the communion between man
and woman. "Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you" (Gen
3:16). How true these words ring for the history of women in society and in particular
marriage. We discover here a break and a constant threat to the union between man and
woman, but the Pope claims that this threat is more serious for woman. Woman, who in
here very nature models receptivity to the gift ... and we see this in the way she received
her existence from Adam as well as in her very bodily structure ... this receptivity now
becomes an occasion for "grasping" on the part of the man, an occasion of "possession"
and "objectification." John Paul warns, that in spite of sin, woman must never become the
object of use, it is in her very God-given dignity to be loved and never ever to be used or
possessed.
These words of Genesis apply directly to the relationship between man and woman in
marriage, but they also concern the "different spheres of social life," most notably the
workplace (paragraph 10). In all of this, in marriage or the greater society, women are
called to regain their original dignity, and men must act in accordance with this dignity.
However, and the Pope is very clear on this point, under no circumstances is the
regaining of this dignity to lead to the "masculinization" of women. He writes, "In the
name of liberation from male 'domination,' women must not appropriate to themselves
male characteristics contrary to their own feminine 'originality'. There is a well found
fear that if they take this path, women will not 'reach fulfillment,' but instead will deform
and lose what constitutes their essential richness. It is indeed an enormous richness."
(paragraph 10).
The dignity of women is equal to the dignity of man, but in no way should we mistake
equality for "sameness." Women, you have a particular "genius", the Pope says, and so I
plead with you ... women, be women. Don't try to be men. We have enough problems of
our own! The challenge to reverse the curse of Genesis, "Your desire shall be for your
husband and he shall rule over you," can only be achieved by men fulfilling what is
means to be masculine and women fulfilling what it means to be feminine. Equal, but
In spite of sin, in spite of the curse found in the beginning of history, we also find a sign of
hope. The Proto-evangelium, the first Gospel, is the first prophecy of Christ. God says to
Satan, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her
seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Gen 3:15). Already, at the
beginning of human history, the plan of salvation in Jesus Christ is being foretold. And
who do we find along side him, mentioned in the same prophecy ... the woman. And in
this, we see Mary, our Blessed Lady, set up in contrast to "Eve," joined under the name of
"woman."
Eve is the witness to the beginning, to the truth about creation and about man being
made in God's image. Mary is witness to the new creation, the new beginning, the
conquering of sin brought upon by Eve (and Adam of course). Herein lies the absolute
originality of the Gospel. In the Old Testament, God only made his covenant with men:
Noah, Abraham, and Moses. But at the beginning of the New Covenant, the eternal
covenant, we find a woman, the Virgin of Nazareth. Indeed God has confirmed what
was true "in the beginning," that the dignity of women is ever as great as that of man, and
that she will have a unique roll to play in salvation history, namely giving that very God
It is in this section that I believe we find John Paul's thesis statement. "Particularly
noteworthy is the meaning which sees Mary as the full revelation of all that is included in
the biblical word 'woman'; a revelation commensurate with the mystery of the
redemption. Mary means, in a sense, a going beyond the limit spoken of in the Book of
Genesis and a return to that 'beginning' in which one finds the 'woman' as she was
intended to be in creation, and therefore in the eternal mind of God; in the bosom of the
Most Holy Trinity. Mary is the 'new beginning' of the dignity and vocation of women, of
each and every woman .... In Mary, Eve discovers the nature of the true dignity of
woman, of feminine humanity. This discovery must continually reach the heart of every
woman and shape her vocation and her life." (paragraph 11).
IV. Jesus and Women
If Mary is the "new Eve" foretold in the Proto-evangelium, then Christ is certainly the
"new Adam" spoken of in the same passage. No address on the dignity of women would
Christ dealt with and related to women. John Paul describes Jesus' attitudes towards
women as "extremely simple, and for this reason extraordinary, if seen against the
background of his time" (paragraph 12). In fact, it is a nearly universal opinion, held
even by those who don't profess Christian beliefs, that "in the eyes of his contemporaries
Christ became a promoter of women's true dignity, and the vocation corresponding to
this dignity." And all of this, as I said, not without controversy. Sacred Scripture tells us
As Mary exemplified that original dignity given to woman by God, Christ plays the male
roll in exemplifying how men should behave towards such ineffable dignity. He boldly
opposes a tradition which had become quite discriminatory against women. He restores
the genius proper to femininity in the way he treats members of the opposite sex. While
The Pope puts it this way, "In all of Jesus' teaching, as well as in his behavior, one can
find nothing which reflects the discrimination against women prevalent in his day. On
the contrary, his words and works always express the respect and honor due to women....
This way of speaking to and about women, as well as his manner of treating them, clearly
constitutes an 'innovation' with respect to the prevailing custom at that time" (paragraph
13). This attitude, in fact, becomes more obvious in his dealing with women whom
And nowhere is this best illustrated than in the scene with the woman caught in adultery.
Listen to what John Paul says, "In the end Jesus says to her, 'Do not sin again,' but first he
evokes an awareness of sin in the men who accuse her in order to stone her, thereby
revealing his profound capacity to see human consciences and actions in their true light.
Jesus seems to say to the accusers: Is not this woman, for all her sin, above all a
(paragraph 14.)
This Pope is truly a sign of the times for the church. How often society witnesses women
bearing the full guilt and consequences of sins, particularly sexual sins. "A woman left
alone, exposed to public opinion with 'her sin,' while behind 'her' sin lurks a man -- a
sinner, guilty 'of the other's sin,' indeed equally responsible for it ... she alone pays ... she
pays all alone!" (paragraph 14). How often is a mother abandoned with a pregnancy
while the father leaves, refusing to accept responsibility and in many cases encouraging
he to "get rid of it." Get rid of what? The responsibility, the sin, even the baby? But the
women's conscience will not let her forget such an action, while the man can simply
leave. This is the destruction of the original innocence and communion present "in the
beginning," and this is the state that Christ is calling us to restore. And at the heart of the
that a mere lustful look is considered "adultery in the heart" (Mt 5:28). He liberates
women with the truth of their own femininity, and they feel loved with an "eternal love"
that only He can offer, but a love that all are called to model. He entrusts women with
the Gospel message, speaking to Martha about the things of God. She listens, hears, and
understands. In doing so he affirms her intellectual dignity, the dignity of the mind, in
addition to the dignity of the heart. Furthermore, the Gospels highlight the fact that "the
women were in the forefront at the foot of the cross. Mary, the Mother of Christ, Mary
the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene ... John Paul says that "in this most arduous test
of faith and fidelity the women proved stronger than the apostles. In this moment of
danger, those who love much succeed in overcoming their fear" (paragraph 15). And it is
the women who are the first at the tomb ... from death to resurrection, they are witnesses
Jesus Christ, and truly the Gospels, contrary to the deep seeded prejudices of the time,
V. Motherhood (3 pages)
We must now focus on the most common way of living out this dignity and vocation of
which we have been speaking ... I am talking about being a wife and mother. Let me first
say, however, that this is not the only way to live out the feminine vocation. The flip side
of the coin, if you will, is virginity for the sake of the kingdom. But by and large, the
only realize himself through a giving of himself" ... while both men and women are called
conceiving and giving birth to a child. The reaction of Eve in Genesis to this process was
one of wonder and awe, "I have brought a man into being with the help of the Lord"
(Gen 4:1). The exclamation of Eve is repeated and lived by each and every women
throughout history who has done the same. John Paul says, "It expresses the woman's joy
and awareness that she is sharing in the great mystery of eternal generation. The spouses
Think about this for a second, especially parents present tonight. Bringing a child into
this world "with the help of the Lord" changes the entire created order. What do I mean
by that? Bringing a child into this world means bringing into existence a new immortal
soul. This changes eternity! One could discover the cure for cancer or conquer the
world taking the lives of half the population in the process ... but all of this is passing. It
does not effect eternity. But conceiving a child ... that is forever. What an awesome
truth! And the woman is closer to this truth than the man, because the woman has an
The Pope puts it this way. "Human parenthood is something shared by both the man
and the woman. Even if the woman, out of love for her husband, says: 'I have given you
a child,' her words also mean: 'This is our child.' Although both of them together are
parents of their child, the woman's motherhood constitutes a special 'part' in this shared
parenthood, and the most demanding part. Parenthood -- even though it belongs to both
-- is realized much more fully in the woman, especially in the prenatal period. It is the
woman who 'pays' directly for this shared generation, which literally absorbs the energies
of her body and soul. It is therefore necessary that the man be fully aware that in their
John Paul II has an amazing capability to get to the very nature of the person, the
ontological core if you will. He can see way past the surface and get at the essence of
what makes us who we are. It is this phenomenal insight that allows him to say, "in many
ways, [man] has to learn his own 'fatherhood' from the mother." Why? Why must an
man learn how to be a father from the woman, to whom motherhood comes so naturally.
Because while both men and women form the beginning were made to give of
themselves, an essential quality for parenthood, it was the woman that most retained this
quality after sin. "He will rule over you," we read in Genesis. While it seems as if woman
takes the brunt of this curse, I argue that it is the man that has lost more of his essence. It
is quite evident in today's society that the male sex has no idea what it means to be a gift
of self. This "ruling over the woman" has clouded his most fundamental vocation ... to
give of himself, to serve. Instead, he insists on "ruling." His spiritual self was injured more
than the woman's. The woman, ironically, takes the brunt of the man's spiritual injury.
This spiritual injury is why a man, having long forgotten how to give of himself, must
turn to the woman to learn his own fatherhood. And what better woman to turn to than
all, the most perfect woman, woman as she was meant to be if you will. In fact, the Pope
says something quite profound about motherhood with regards to Our Mother. "Each
and every time that motherhood is repeated in human history, it is always related to the
Covenant which God established with the human race through the motherhood of the
Mother of God." Thus, in a very real way, every woman's motherhood, and
"The history of every human being passes through the threshold of a woman's
motherhood" (paragraph 19). For this reason, we can have no adequate understanding of
the nature of what it means to be human, both male and female, without a proper
understanding of femininity (paragraph 22). Remember what John Paul called woman
the Church as the Bride of Christ. In St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians, we find one of the
most important passages regarding the nature of masculinity and femininity. It is a long
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that
he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he
might present the Church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such
thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Even so husbands should love their
wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates
his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the Church, because we are
members of his body. 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.' This mystery is a profound one, and I
In all the analogies used in the Bible to describe the love of God for His people, by far the
most numerous is that of a bridegroom to his bride. St. Paul confirms this truth by
comparing the spousal nature of the love between a man and a woman to the mystery of
Christ and the Church (paragraph 23). In fact, this is what elevates matrimony to the
level of a sacrament. Recall, a sacrament is something that acts as a profound sign of the
nature of God, and earthly sign that speaks something of a heavenly reality. Marriage
speaks! It speaks of the love of Christ for his Church. "This is a profound mystery!"
The same passage also affirms the dignity with which women are to be treated by their
husbands. Husbands, you are called to treat your wives as Church, as the body of Christ.
You are called to give of yourself, freely, totally, faithfully, and fruitfully, as Christ gave
himself for us. You are called to subject yourself to her, to lose yourself in her. In fact,
This comparison of woman to Church further supports the idea of woman being a model
for all humanity. We are all called to be "Bride," for we are all the Bride of Christ. John
Paul says eloquently, "In this way, 'being the bride,' and thus the 'feminine' element,
It is only against this background of comparing the love of a man and a woman to the
love of Christ for his Church that we can understand an all male priesthood. In calling
only men as his apostles, Christ acted freely, just as freely as he did in his counter-cultural
associations with and dignifying of the women of his time. He never conformed to
historical customs for the mere sake of tradition. The is no reasons to think that he did so
in the choosing of the Twelve. Thus, the argument that Jesus chose all men only because
choosing a woman would have been ludicrous at the time just doesn't hold water. Quite
frankly, that didn't stop him during his first thirty-three years, why would it stop him at
On the contrary, Christ never did anything without a purpose. In the setting up of his
Church, Christ wanted to express the relationship between what is feminine and what is
masculine, that is a relationship between himself and his Church. "This is clear," writes
the Pope, "when the sacramental ministry of the Eucharist, in which the priest acts 'in
particular, the Second Vatican Council confirmed that Mary is precisely the figure of the
Church. She is the woman "without spot or wrinkle" in which the Church takes its
deepest, most perfect roots. "In this sense, one can say that the Church is both 'Marian'
and 'Apostolic-Petrine'" (paragraph 27).
Throughout history, women have made tremendous contributions to the life of the
Church. Scripture mentions several women during the first years of Christianity:
Phoebe, Prisca, Evodia, Persis, and Tryphosa. This continues down though the
centuries. In defending the dignity of women, the Church has shown honor and
gratitude for those who have shared in the apostolic mission of the Church ... martyrs,
virgins, mothers ... Monica, the mother of Augustine, Joan of Arc, Rose of Lima,
Elizabeth Ann Seton, Gianna Mola ... and women have been named "doctors" of the
Church for their exemplary contributions to Church teaching ... St. Catherine of Siena
and St. Teresa of Avila. These women are holy models for all Christians on how to be
Where does this leave us today? John Paul concludes his letter by examining the dignity
of women with regards to the order of love. Only through love can we come to a full
understanding of this great dignity, and it is this dignity that will bring about the fullness
of love.
In the relationship of Bride to Bridegroom, it is the Bridegroom who loves the Bride.
The Bride, in a perfect act of receptivity, takes that love, and gives it back to the
Bridegroom. Similarly, in the male-female relationship, it is the man that initiates the
gift. The woman receives his gift and give of herself back to her spouse. We can see these
rolls played out in the very bodily structures of male and female. The woman is designed
Men, however, take on a feminine roll when it comes to their relationship with Jesus
Christ. We are the Bride. In this setting, it is humanity that must receive the love. This
is why men have much to learn from the way in which women love. In this sense, the
woman communicates the truth of how to be loved by God to all of humanity. In this
way, the Pope says, every woman, by virtue of her femininity, is a kind of prophet,
bringing some truth about God to his people. Her very body is prophetic. It speaks of
the love of God and our gift of ourselves back to Him (paragraph 29).
This, in its very essence, is what the Pope calls, "the genius of women."
The Pope ends this document by giving thanks to God. "During the Marian Year, the
Church desires to give thanks to the Most Holy Trinity for the 'mystery of woman' and
for every woman.... After all, was it not in and through her that the greatest event in
"Therefore the Church gives thanks for each and every woman: for mothers, for sisters,
for wives; for women consecrated to God in virginity; for women dedicated to the many
human beings who await the gratuitous love of another person; for women who watch
over the human persons in the family, which is the fundamental sign of the human
community; for women who work professionally and who at times are burdened by a
great social responsibility; for 'perfect' women and for 'weak' women -- for all women as
they have come forth from the heart of God in all the beauty and richness of their
femininity; as they have been embraced by his eternal love; as, together with men, they
are pilgrims on this earth, which is the temporal 'homeland' of all people and is
transformed sometimes into a 'valley of tears'; as they assume, together with men, a
common responsibility for the destiny of humanity according to daily necessities and
according to that definitive destiny which the human family has in God himself, in the
"The Church gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine 'genius' which have
appeared in the course of history, in the midst of all peoples and nations, she gives thanks
for all charisms which the Holy Spirit distributes to women in the history of the People of
God, for all the victories which she owes to their faith, hope, and charity: she gives thanks
The Church gives thanks, and I thank you as well. Ladies, thank you for being who you
are. And Ladies and Gentlemen together, I thank you sincerely for coming tonight. God