AVVENIRE (link to original ITA) 

Viviana Daloiso Wednesday, 18 June 2025 

The President of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations speaks: "We don't want to be priests or bishops, but to walk alongside with pastors".

Women all over the world, from Africa to South America, through old Europe, hope. They hope to live free from violence in their own homes. They expect to be able to reconcile the management of children at home and of elderly parents, with a job without which the family in many cases would not have enough to live on. They expect to be able to study, to be employed and paid like men, to be listened to and to be able to express what they think and what they need in neighbourhood meetings, in local councils or town assemblies, as well as in the parish and in pastoral bodies.

And it is in the sign of hope, which is at the heart of the current Jubilee, that the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations (WUCWO) decided to organise these days in Rome a big meeting to give prominence to women, both inside and outside the Church, with their stories of tenacity and leadership. Starting with the inspiring example of the President General of the association, Mónica Santamarina, who took office two years ago after her predecessor María Lía Zervino was appointed member of the Dicastery for Bishops. Mexican, widowed, mother of two daughters and two sons, grandmother of nine grandchildren ("five girls and four boys whom I taught to value equity from birth"), Mónica has held various institutional positions, was president of Acción Católica Mexicana and a member of the editorial board of the country's oldest Catholic magazine, Acción Femenina, for more than 25 years, always attentive to the stories of the most vulnerable women.

Was it these stories of fragility that convinced you of the need for a concrete commitment to women?

That's exactly it. I have met women who have been victims of domestic or sexual violence for years, who have been discriminated against or excluded, and I have listened to the terrible stories of those who have been forced to flee their country and face the odyssey of migration. Despite everything, each of them showed incredible faith and love. Their example inspired me: I immediately felt the call to do all I could to help them.

" We often suffer violence,

and we are aware of the fragilities.

That is why we can help communities

 become closer to those in need”.

What is the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations?

It is an association of 100 organisations around the world, active in more than 50 countries on all continents, representing Catholic women of all ages, totalling around 8 million. Our mission is to promote the participation and collaboration of women in society and in the Church, enabling them to live fully their mission of evangelisation and integral human development. In a word, to get women to commit to their responsibility. We do this through a four-year action programme that focuses on the defence of religious freedom, support for education and the family, care for creation, care for migrants and refugees, and synodality.

And how can women play responsible roles if they do not have the same opportunities as men?

These opportunities must be built. All women must have sufficient opportunities to fully develop and flourish according to their charisms and God-given gifts, starting with education. It is clear that there is still a large gap in women's full participation and equal rights at all levels. One of the main problems contributing to this gap is precisely the denial of the right to education: if women do not receive the same information, education and training as men, they will never be able to reach the same level. And then there is the wound of violence: a survey conducted by our World Observatory among more than 10,000 women in 38 African countries revealed that 80% of them still suffer from domestic violence.

Does the gap you speak of also exist in the Church? The subject is obviously much discussed and the role of women in the Church has been at the heart of the work of the Synod: what should it be?

It is no secret that the gap exists. Obviously not at all levels, nor in the same way. It must be said that great strides have been made, especially thanks to Pope Francis, who has been a "champion" of inclusion: he has promoted women's participation through documents and concrete examples, such as the appointment of former WUCWO President Maria Lia Zervino along with two other women to the Dicastery for Bishops and then to the Synod Secretariat, and this despite resistance from many parts of the Church. However, a strong clericalism still persists, especially at the local level.

What would you like?

That women be listened to, first and foremost. The Church needs a pastoral of listening to women: priests, bishops, deacons and catechists must be trained to listen to women, to allow them to speak and then know how to guide them to the necessary help, even if they are not psychologists or lawyers. There is a lack of training regarding women in seminaries: seminarians, having spent years surrounded only by men, often do not know how to interact with women and understand their issues. As a result, many decisions are made without considering women, despite the fact that women make up the majority of God’s people.

And then what?

Listening to women would mean being open to their vision of the world, to their gaze, and the account that only they can offer of the fragility and vulnerability of the communities in which they live, because they are the first to experience fragility and vulnerability as women. The Church could and should offer a "feminine face": by their very nature women have more experience in being close to the last, they are more empathetic. These capacities would allow the Church to go out  of itself and be even more missionary, reaching out to all those in need, especially the marginalised, the last. We often insist on the need for a metanoia, a change of heart in the Church: women do not want to be priests or bishops, but they want to walk alongside with priests, bishops, seminarians and the rest of God's people because together we can do much better. The Church loses a lot if it does not allow women to participate fully.

How are you working on this front?

Little by little, step by step, starting from the bottom. We are training women in the School for Synodality, an experience of mutual listening and sharing with the aim of changing structures and mentalities precisely at the local level. We talk to priests, to seminarians, to men, we also talk to women: the fact that they are excluded is a problem of culture, not of women or men. Often, in fact, it is women who have the most conservative ideas. We also talk to the bishops in the dioceses and to the Vatican in the various dicasteries. It takes patience and time, but we are convinced that change is possible.