AUSTRALIA’S Catholic leaders have welcomed a new Vatican document that strongly supports the role of women in the Church and society.
Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, issued the letter to the world’s bishops on July 31.
The letter on ‘The Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World’ calls for policies which create a greater balance between work and family life.
Cardinal Ratzinger urges women to reclaim their unique role in society and the Church.
He calls for an active collaboration between the sexes, based on the differences between men and women and on their common humanity.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president, Archbishop Francis Carroll of Canberra and Goulburn, welcomed the document.
‘Its reaffirmation of the unique place of women in the Church and society and its call for an active and positive collaboration between men and women is a welcome contribution to the often antagonistic gender debate,’ Archbishop Carroll said.
Commission for Australian Catholic Women (CACW) chair, Geraldine Hawkes, said the letter affirmed the prophetic voice of the Australian bishops in their creation of CACW to promote the participation of women in the Church.
