Holy See: Honoring motherhood is part of women’s empowerment

July 07, 2010

Addressing a UN meeting on gender equality and women’s empowerment, Archbishop Celestino Migliore praised the increasing place of women in public life and noted that men and women, while equal in dignity, are different and complimentary. “Equality is not sameness, and difference is not inequality,” he said, adding:

Empowering women and respecting their dignity mean also honoring their capacity to serve and devote themselves to society and to the family through motherhood which entails a self-giving love and care-giving. Altruism, dedication and service to others are healthy and contribute to personal dignity. If domesticity can be considered a particular gift of mothers in cultivating a genuine intrapersonal relationship in the family and society, then family-friendly working arrangements, shared family-care leave and redistribution of the burden of unpaid work will be given the attention they rightly deserve.

Decrying violence and discrimination against women, Archbishop Migliore also called for improved women’s health care, which “is not achieved by concentrating on a particular health issue to the neglect of others but by promoting their overall health.”

Archbishop Migliore made his remarks on July 1; the Holy See Press Office released them on July 6. The 58-year-old prelate served as apostolic nuncio to the United Nations until June 30, when he was appointed apostolic nuncio to Poland.

 

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Further information:

• Statement Of The Head Of The Holy See Delegation To The Economic And Social Council On Gender Equality And Empowerment Of Women (New York, 1 July 2010)
• Economic and Social Council, Concluding High-Level Segment, Adopts Ministerial Declaration Reaffirming Women’s Vital Role as Agents of Development (UN Economic and Social Council)