I am most grateful for the affirmation and appreciation expressed on various occasions by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Our Holy Father has never missed an opportunity to offer the Church’s thanks, as well as his own, to the women of the world for all the good that is being done and to encourage our efforts to continue and grow. He has blessed us!
The Vatican Secretariat of State, Pontifical Council for the Laity, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Pontifical Council for the Family, and so many dicasteries, have welcomed WUCWO—and the millions of faithful Catholic women the World Union represents--for dialogue, conferences, and ongoing collaboration. The mutual exchange of insights during visits and meetings has resulted in gifted encounters for all present. Truly the voice of women is heard and valued in the Church!
In the words of Mulieris Dignitatem:
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 bosom of the ineffable Trinity.
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 the 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 for all the fruits of feminine holiness.
The Church asks at the same time that these invaluable "manifestations of the Spirit" (cf. 1 Cor 12:4ff.), which with great generosity are poured forth upon the "daughters" of the eternal Jerusalem, may be attentively recognized and appreciated so that they may return for the common good of the Church and of humanity, especially in our times. Meditating on the biblical mystery of the "woman", the Church prays that in this mystery all women may discover themselves and their "supreme vocation".
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem_en.html
Excellent post, Mrs. Hurley!
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