Pope Francis has condemned gender ideology on numerous occasions in the past, calling it “ideological colonization”, an “error of the human mind”, an “expression of frustration and resignation”, a “tsunami”, a “war on marriage ” or “nefarious” and “extremely dangerous”, as last time in his speech to the diplomatic corps at the beginning of the year. O Pope Francisco re-stigmatizes gender ideology as today’s “danger” and announces that he “asked to carry out studies on this ugly ideology of our time” that “cancels differences and makes everything equal”. He did so at this morning’s hearing at Vatican with conference participants Man-Woman: Image of God. For an anthropology of vocationsevent organized by Center for Research and Anthropology of Vocations (CRAV) and led by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for Bishops, which takes place today and tomorrow, March 1 and 2, at the Vatican, and brings together several scholars, philosophers, theologians, pedagogues to reflect on Christian anthropology, pluralism , dialogue between cultures, and the future of Christianity.
The report is from Salvatore Cernuziopublished by Vatican News, 01-03-2024.
A meeting between men and women is important
Due to the cold that has been affecting it for days, as in the general audience on Wednesday, the Papa makes his collaborator Msgr. Filippo Ciampanelli read the prepared text: “I ask you to read it, so as not to tire me too much; I still have a cold and it makes me tired of reading for a while,” she explains. First, however, Francis wants to address some improvised words to those present, to underline the importance of such a meeting between men and women, “because today”, he says, “the worst danger is gender ideology, which cancels out differences”.
“I asked to do studies on this ugly ideology of our time, which erases differences and makes everything equal; erasing difference is erasing humanity. Men and women, however, live in a fruitful “tension”.”
In June 2019, then Congregation for Catholic Education published a document entitled Man and Woman: He Created Them. For a form of dialogue on the issue of gender in education, a useful tool to address the debate on human sexuality and the challenges that arise in the current time of educational emergency. Today Francisco explains that reflection on this topic continues.
Read the book “The lord of the world” de Robert Hugh Benson
As on other occasions – starting with the return trip from the Philippines, when journalists on the plane asked him to better explain the then-new concept of “ideological colonization” evoked during the meeting with the families in Manila – Jorge Mario Bergoglio suggests reading the novel The lord of the world written in 1907, in London, by Robert Hugh Benson. It is a dystopian work that describes risks and consequences arising from standardization.
“I remember reading an early 20th century novel written by the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury: The lord of the world. The novel talks about the future and is prophetic, as it shows this tendency to erase all differences. It’s interesting to read, if you have time, read it, because there are these problems today. This man was a prophet.”
Some of the participants at the conference in the Vatican (Photo: Vatican Media)
Man and woman are not parts of a mechanical gear
No text deliver, Francisco rather, it focuses on the importance of starting, at the academic level, a reflection on vocations in the Church and in society, valuing their anthropological dimension and starting from the “elementary and fundamental truth” that the entire “life of the human being is a vocation” which is expressed in sharing one’s being and one’s gifts “with others” and “for the common good”. This is a discovery that “takes us out of the isolation of a self-referential ego and makes us look at ourselves as an identity in relation: I exist and live in relation to those who generated me, to the reality that transcends me, to others and to the world that surrounds me, in relation to which I am called to embrace with joy and responsibility a specific and personal mission”, emphasizes the Pontiff.
‘In today’s cultural context we sometimes tend to forget or obscure this reality, running the risk of reducing human beings to their only material or primary needs, as if they were an object without consciousness and without will, simply dragged through life as part of a mechanical gear“.
Everyone’s life is not an accident
“The life of each one of us, without exception, is not an accident”, emphasizes the Papa, “our existence in the world is not a mere result of chance, but we are part of a plan of love and we are invited to come out of ourselves and make it happen, for ourselves and for others”. Each of us therefore has a mission, that is, “we are called to offer our contribution to improving the world and shaping society”. The Pope therefore encourages research, studies and opportunities for discussion about vocations, different states of life and the multiplicity of charisms: “They are also useful for questioning ourselves about today’s challenges, the anthropological crisis ongoing and the necessary promotion of vocations human and Christian”. It is also important, he emphasizes, that “an increasingly effective circularity between different vocations” develops, so that the works that arise from the state of lay life at the service of society and the Church, together with the gift of ordained ministries and life consecrated, can contribute to generating hope in a world where heavy experiences of death hover.”
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Francisco: I asked to carry out studies on gender ideology, the ugliest danger today – Instituto Humanitas Unisinos – IHU