Volume Two

Women and the Recovery of Work

Abstract: This paper discusses how the role of women in "making life more human" requires understanding the nature and dignity of work as explained by John Paul II's encyclical On Human Work. The paper was presented at the Siena Symposium conference on "John Paul II and the Vocation of the Professional Woman" (St. Paul, 2004)

 

Laura Garcia, Ph.D. Women and Vocation

Abstract: John Paul II's apostolic letter On the Dignity and Vocation of Women on the Occasion of the Marian Year is a revolutionary document. It's agenda, if taken seriously, could transform the social landscape of the entire world. The starting point is personalism rather than rationality narrowly conceived combined with a conception of vocation that includes a prophetic and priestly role for women. It also includes an obligation to foster a civilization of love. The paper ends with an analysis of personalist feminism.

 

Anne Maloney, Ph.D. The Feminine Genius and Its Role in Building the Culture of Life‌‌

Abstract: John Paul II does not address women directly in the Evangelium Vitae until close to the very end. In Section 99 (out of 101), the Holy Father tells the women of the world that our role is unique and crucial in building the culture of life. But what is the culture of life that women are being asked to build, and what does it mean to call ours a culture of death? Why does John Paul end this, his longest encyclical, with an appeal specially to women? What is it about women that convinces him that ours in a unique and necessary role in conquering the culture of death? These questions require investigating the role abortion plays in contemporary culture.