You need to understand
DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE. I've posted this link 30 times in this board, but it falls of deaf ears.
LETTER OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
TO WOMEN
Taking up the themes I addressed in that document, I would now like to
speak directly to every woman, to reflect with her on the problems and the prospects of what it means to be a woman in our time. In particular I wish to consider the essential issue of the
dignity and
rights of women, as seen in the light of the word of God.
This "dialogue" really needs to begin with a word of thanks. As I wrote in my Apostolic Letter
Mulieris Dignitatem, the Church "desires to give thanks to the Most Holy Trinity for the 'mystery of woman' and for every woman-for all that constitutes the eternal measure of her feminine dignity, for the 'great works of God', which throughout human history have been accomplished in and through her" (No. 31).
2. This word of thanks to the Lord for his mysterious plan regarding the vocation and mission of women in the world is at the same time a concrete and direct word of thanks to women, to every woman, for all that they represent in the life of humanity.
Thank you,
women who are mothers! You have sheltered human beings within yourselves in a unique experience of joy and travail. This experience makes you become God's own smile upon the newborn child, the one who guides your child's first steps, who helps it to grow, and who is the anchor as the child makes its way along the journey of life.
Thank you,
women who are wives! You irrevocably join your future to that of your husbands, in a relationship of mutual giving, at the service of love and life.
Thank you,
women who are daughters and
women who are sisters! Into the heart of the family, and then of all society, you bring the richness of your sensitivity, your intuitiveness, your generosity and fidelity.
Thank you,
women who work! You are present and active in every area of life-social, economic, cultural, artistic and political. In this way you make an indispensable contribution to the growth of a culture which unites reason and feeling, to a model of life ever open to the sense of "mystery", to the establishment of economic and political structures ever more worthy of humanity.
Thank you,
consecrated women! Following the example of the greatest of women, the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, you open yourselves with obedience and fidelity to the gift of God's love. You help the Church and all mankind to experience a "spousal" relationship to God, one which magnificently expresses the fellowship which God wishes to establish with his creatures.
Thank you,
every woman, for the simple fact of being
a woman! Through the insight which is so much a part of your womanhood you enrich the world's understanding and help to make human relations more honest and authentic.
3. I know of course that simply saying thank you is not enough. Unfortunately, we are heirs to a history which has
conditioned us to a remarkable extent.
In every time and place, this conditioning has been an obstacle to the progress of women. Women's dignity has often been unacknowledged and their prerogatives misrepresented; they have often been relegated to the margins of society and even reduced to servitude.
This has prevented women from truly being themselves and it has resulted in a spiritual impoverishment of humanity.
Certainly it is no easy task to assign the blame for this, considering the many kinds of cultural conditioning which down the centuries have shaped ways of thinking and acting.
And if objective blame, especially in particular historical contexts, has belonged to not just a few members of the Church, for this I am truly sorry.
May this regret be transformed, on the part of the whole Church, into a renewed commitment of fidelity to the Gospel vision.
When it comes to setting women free from every kind of exploitation and domination, the Gospel contains an ever relevant message which goes back to the
attitude of Jesus Christ himself. Transcending the established norms of his own culture, Jesus treated women with openness, respect, acceptance and tenderness. In this way he honoured the dignity which women have always possessed according to God's plan and in his love.
As we look to Christ at the end of this Second Millennium, it is natural to ask ourselves: how much of his message has been heard and acted upon?
Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, male, female, Women's dignity, woman, solidarity, John Paul II, Women
www.vatican.va