Catholic Women Send a Letter to the Synod Fathers

Last updated on: October 1, 2015 at 10:47 am by Kathy Schiffer

Catholic Women Send a Letter to the Synod Fathers 2015-10-01T10:47:42-05:00 Kathy Schiffer

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Just days before the opening of the Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, a group of prominent Catholic women have renewed their commitment to the Catholic Church and their fidelity to its doctrines on sexuality, marriage and the family, and the dignity of the human person.

The Catholic Women’s Forum has made public a letter to the Synod Fathers, signed by two hundred leading women leaders. You can join the signatories, adding your name to the list of Catholic women who support for the Holy Father and for Church teaching, by going to the Ethics & Public Policy Center website.

Here is the full text of the letter.

October 1, 2015

Dear Synod Fathers in Christ,

In anticipation of the Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family (October 2015), we the undersigned Catholic women—scholars, professors, attorneys, physicians, writers, businesswomen, philanthropists, leaders of apostolate, members of religious orders, and others—wish to express our love for Pope Francis, our fidelity to and gratitude for the doctrines of the Catholic Church, and our confidence in the Synod of Bishops as it strives to strengthen the Church’s evangelizing mission.

Pope Francis has highlighted the need for women to be an “incisive presence” in the Church, and an “effective presence” in the culture, the workplace, and wherever “the most important decisions are taken,” in harmony with women’s “preferential attention” for the family. And Pope St. John Paul II observed that women “have the task of assuring the moral dimension of culture … a culture worthy of the person.” With these ideas in mind, we wish the Synod Fathers to know that:

We see the teachings of the Church as truth—a source of authentic freedom, equality, and happiness for women.

We give witness that the Church’s teachings—on the dignity of the human person and the value of human life from conception to natural death; on the meaning of human sexuality, the significance of sexual difference and the complementarity of men and women; on openness to life and the gift of motherhood; and on marriage and family founded on the indissoluble commitment of a man and a woman—provide a sure guide to the Christian life, promote women’s flourishing, and serve to protect the poor and most vulnerable among us.

We stand in solidarity with our sisters in the developing world against what Pope Francis has described as “forms of ideological colonization which are out to destroy the family” and which exalt the pursuit of “success, riches, and power at all costs.” We urge a profound attentiveness to the poor and a relentless search for just solutions that address the deeper causes of poverty while simultaneously safeguarding the vulnerable, strengthening the family, and upholding the common good.

We believe that pastoral challenges can be met, in part, by communicating Church teachings more clearly, confidently, and compassionately, in language, tone, and generous personal encounters that welcome the “why?” of a searching heart. We believe that women should be prominent messengers of the truths contained in the Church’s teachings.

We enthusiastically commit our distinctive insights and gifts, and our fervent prayers, in service to the Church’s evangelizing mission.

And we pledge to accompany you, the Synod Fathers, and Pope Francis with our deepest prayers and gratitude, as you work for the good of families and the Church.

In Christ,

Catholic

Women

Synod on the Family

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