Working for the Office of Catholic Women, I scan a lot of news stories on the internet to see what is going on with Catholic Women in the world. Lately, I have been scanning a lot of news depicting what is going on with women in the Catholic Church. In summary – wow! Needless to say, my head is spinning – sometimes with joy – sometimes with sadness – but pretty consistently with confusion over division. I have kept safely away from some of these issues on my Facebook page and blog posts in order to avoid a beehive and getting stung; however, after taking this to prayer, I truly feel that I would be doing a disservice to the Office of Catholic Women – and to women in general – if I ignore the calls the Magisterium is issuing to women – most recently with Pope Francis calling for a “more profound theology of women” that has stirred up some of these beehives – good and bad. Pope Francis’ call to women follows Benedict XVI’s support and furtherance of Saint John Paul II’s great work in expressing and encouraging the “Dignity and Vocation of Women” (a papal encyclical John Paul II issued). Saint John Paul II’s many writings on the complementarity of men and women being equal but different; and the gifts of women; as well as, the need for these gifts in the Church and in society, is a treasury of wisdom to build upon in working toward Pope Francis’ call for a more profound theology of women. We could go back even further and see Paul VI’s recognition of the need for the presence of women in the Church and society when, at the closing of the Second Vatican Council, he said: “The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of women is being acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. This is why, at this moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women imbued with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling.” We could continue into Saint John XXIII (perhaps in future posts this will be done); however, after all this encouragement and openness to a theology of women from the Magisterium, I have found numerous articles on the web mocking this encouragement – seeing it as a pacification of women who are saying they are being seen as second class to men. One day, I spent the entire day reading these positions, trying to hear what they were saying. While that was a very intense, dark, and heavy day for me intellectually, a ray of light always shown through when I would find a premise that these critiques were based upon that was a gap in understanding – a misunderstanding – of the very theology they were criticizing. This brought me hope with regard to these divisions! Perhaps if we start at the foundations … and try to understand and reflect upon the theology that Pope Francis’ call to a profound theology of woman is based upon, we can be led by the same Holy Spirit who is issuing this call through the Magisterium to discover more the beauty of the feminine gift that God has created … and to live it in ways that – along with its male complement – “can do so much to aid humanity in not falling.” This can also bring a fullness to the Catholic Faith at the level of the family (the domestic Church), the parish, the diocese, the country … and universally … a fullness that I am convinced must be missing if the Holy Spirit is speaking through the Magisterium so consistently of a need for us to discover more fully – and live – authentic womanhood in the midst of other God-given gifts in the Church! Thus … I intend to try to do my part to break this foundational theology into understandable chunks or pearls of wisdom communicated on-line (and in person if any group would like a class) in a way that it can be lived in daily life. In this way, I envision women living these truths and discovering what the Holy Spirit is inspiring the Magisterium to encourage at high levels of teaching in an encyclical (as well as consistent mentions in lower levels of teaching) regarding what is needed in the Church today from us women. I pray we can put our agendas aside and listen. As Catholics, we know the Holy Spirit works through Magisterial teaching regardless of human weaknesses. As Catholics, we are receptive to God’s Revelation through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition – both entrusted to the charism the Holy Spirit has given to the Magisterium. As Catholic women, do we really want to ignore this? Please help me to compile an email list of those who would like to be a part of an on-line dialogue/study of these foundational teachings of the Church on the dignity and vocation of women in order to respond to the call of Pope Francis for a more profound theology of women. Have a great weekend! Lynn Marie