L | A
By Matthew Santucci
Pope Francis meets with members of the French-based academic organization Research and Anthropology of Vocations Institute on March 1, 2024, at the Vatican.
Pope Francis on Friday morning gave an address on the importance of building a culture that protects human and Christians vocations, things he suggested were at risk due to contemporary cultural challenges including gender ideology.
“It is very important that there is this meeting, this meeting between men and women, because today the ugliest danger is gender ideology, which cancels out differences,” the pope said during an audience with members of the French-based academic organization Research and Anthropology of Vocations Institute (CRAV).
Gender ideology, which seeks to blur differences between men and women through movements such as transgenderism, “makes everything the same,” Francis said.
“Erasing differences is erasing humanity. Man and woman, however, are in a fruitful ‘tension,’” Francis told the assembly, which is gathered in Rome for a two-day international conference titled “Man, Woman, Image of God: For an Anthropology of Vocations.”
The pope did not read the full address, instead delegating the task to Monsignor Filippo Ciampanelli. “I still have a cold and it’s tiring to read for a while,” the pope said to the participants assembled at the Vatican.
Pope Francis meets with members of the French-based academic organization Research and Anthropology of Vocations Institute on March 1, 2024, at the Vatican.
Focusing the Friday morning address on the “anthropological crisis and the necessary promotion of human and Christian vocations,” Pope Francis said this task is challenged by myriad social challenges arising from the cultural zeitgeist, including gender ideology.
Highlighting the anthropological angle of the conference, the pope pointed to “an elementary and fundamental truth, which today we need to rediscover in all its beauty: The life of the human being is a vocation.”
The pope emphasized that this is a foundational element “which underlies every call within the community” and “has to do with an essential characteristic of the human being as such.”
“This discovery,” the pope added, “brings us out of the isolation of a self-referential ego and makes us look at ourselves as an identity in relation.”
The Holy Father emphasized that it is imperative to understand this “anthropological truth,” as it “fully responds to the desire for human fulfillment and happiness that lives in our hearts.”
“We sometimes tend to forget or obscure this reality,” the pope said, which carries the risk of “reducing the human being to his sole material needs or primary needs, as if he were an object without conscience and without will, simply dragged by life as part of a mechanical gear.”
To counteract this trend, the pope stressed that there needs to be a broad recondition that “the life of the human being is a vocation” and that “man and woman are created by God and are the image of the Creator.”
The pope buttressed this remark by highlighting that human beings must cultivate a relationship with “he who generated me, to the reality that transcends me, to others and to the world around me,” as a way to express the universal call we each face “to embrace a specific and personal mission with joy and responsibility.”
The conference includes 15 different sessions and will run from March 1–2. It features a line of speakers including Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who will evaluate the subjects of the conference through a pastoral lens as well through a study of philosophical and theological anthropology.
Participants will attend Mass on Friday and Saturday, celebrated by Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, respectively.
Link to full speech
By Matthew Santucci
Pope Francis meets with members of the French-based academic organization Research and Anthropology of Vocations Institute on March 1, 2024, at the Vatican.
Pope Francis on Friday morning gave an address on the importance of building a culture that protects human and Christians vocations, things he suggested were at risk due to contemporary cultural challenges including gender ideology.
“It is very important that there is this meeting, this meeting between men and women, because today the ugliest danger is gender ideology, which cancels out differences,” the pope said during an audience with members of the French-based academic organization Research and Anthropology of Vocations Institute (CRAV).
Gender ideology, which seeks to blur differences between men and women through movements such as transgenderism, “makes everything the same,” Francis said.
“Erasing differences is erasing humanity. Man and woman, however, are in a fruitful ‘tension,’” Francis told the assembly, which is gathered in Rome for a two-day international conference titled “Man, Woman, Image of God: For an Anthropology of Vocations.”
The pope did not read the full address, instead delegating the task to Monsignor Filippo Ciampanelli. “I still have a cold and it’s tiring to read for a while,” the pope said to the participants assembled at the Vatican.
Pope Francis meets with members of the French-based academic organization Research and Anthropology of Vocations Institute on March 1, 2024, at the Vatican.
Focusing the Friday morning address on the “anthropological crisis and the necessary promotion of human and Christian vocations,” Pope Francis said this task is challenged by myriad social challenges arising from the cultural zeitgeist, including gender ideology.
Highlighting the anthropological angle of the conference, the pope pointed to “an elementary and fundamental truth, which today we need to rediscover in all its beauty: The life of the human being is a vocation.”
The pope emphasized that this is a foundational element “which underlies every call within the community” and “has to do with an essential characteristic of the human being as such.”
“This discovery,” the pope added, “brings us out of the isolation of a self-referential ego and makes us look at ourselves as an identity in relation.”
The Holy Father emphasized that it is imperative to understand this “anthropological truth,” as it “fully responds to the desire for human fulfillment and happiness that lives in our hearts.”
“We sometimes tend to forget or obscure this reality,” the pope said, which carries the risk of “reducing the human being to his sole material needs or primary needs, as if he were an object without conscience and without will, simply dragged by life as part of a mechanical gear.”
To counteract this trend, the pope stressed that there needs to be a broad recondition that “the life of the human being is a vocation” and that “man and woman are created by God and are the image of the Creator.”
The pope buttressed this remark by highlighting that human beings must cultivate a relationship with “he who generated me, to the reality that transcends me, to others and to the world around me,” as a way to express the universal call we each face “to embrace a specific and personal mission with joy and responsibility.”
The conference includes 15 different sessions and will run from March 1–2. It features a line of speakers including Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who will evaluate the subjects of the conference through a pastoral lens as well through a study of philosophical and theological anthropology.
Participants will attend Mass on Friday and Saturday, celebrated by Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, respectively.
Link to full speech
Speech of His Holiness Pope Francis TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "MAN-WOMAN IMAGE OF GOD. FOR AN ANTHROPOLOGY OF VOCATIONS"
Synod Hall Friday, March 1, 2024
Words of His Holiness before the speech
Good morning! I ask to read, so I won't strain myself too much; I still have a cold and reading for a while tires me. But I would like to emphasize one thing: it is very important that this meeting, this encounter between men and women, takes place because today the ugliest danger is the gender ideology, which erases differences. I have asked for studies to be done on this ugly ideology of our time, which erases differences and makes everything equal; to erase the difference is to erase humanity. Man and woman, instead, exist in a fruitful "tension". I remember reading a novel from the beginning of the twentieth century, written by the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury: The Lord of the World. The novel talks about the future and is prophetic because it shows this tendency to erase all differences. It's interesting to read, if you have time, read it, because there are these problems of today; that man was a prophet.
Brothers and sisters!
I am happy to participate in this Conference promoted by the Center for Research and Anthropology of Vocations, during which scholars from various parts of the world, each starting from their own expertise, will discuss the theme "Man-woman image of God. For an anthropology of vocations." I greet all the participants and thank Cardinal Ouellet for his words: we are not yet saints, but we hope to always remain on the path to becoming saints, this is the first vocation we have received! And thanks above all because, a few years ago, together with other authoritative people and seeking the alliance between knowledge, he gave life to this Center, to initiate an international academic research aimed at better understanding the meaning and importance of vocations, in the Church and in society.
The purpose of this Conference is first and foremost to consider and valorize the anthropological dimension of every vocation. This leads us back to an elementary and fundamental truth, which today we need to rediscover in all its beauty: the life of the human being is a vocation. Let's not forget it: the anthropological dimension, which underlies every call within the community, has to do with an essential characteristic of the human being as such: that is, that the human being itself is a vocation. Each of us, both in the major choices concerning a state of life, and in the numerous occasions and situations in which they are incarnated and take shape, discovers and expresses oneself as called, as a person who realizes oneself in listening and responding, sharing one's being and gifts with others for the common good.
This discovery leads us out of the isolation of a self-referential ego and leads us to look at ourselves as an identity in relationship: I exist and live in relation to who generated me, to the reality that transcends me, to others and to the world around me, with respect to which I am called to embrace with joy and responsibility a specific and personal mission.
This anthropological truth is fundamental because it fully responds to the desire for human fulfillment and happiness that dwells in our hearts. In today's cultural context, sometimes there is a tendency to forget or obscure this reality, with the risk of reducing the human being to his or her mere material needs or primary needs, as if he or she were an object without consciousness and will, simply dragged along by life as part of a mechanical gear. Instead, man and woman are created by God and are an image of the Creator; they carry within them a desire for eternity and happiness that God himself has sown in their hearts and that they are called to fulfill through a specific vocation. For this reason, a healthy inner tension dwells within us that we must never stifle: we are called to happiness, to the fullness of life, to something great to which God has destined us. The life of each of us, no one excluded, is not an accident along the way; our being in the world is not merely a result of chance, but we are part of a design of love and we are invited to go out of ourselves and realize it, for ourselves and for others.
For this reason, if it is true that each of us has a mission, that is, is called to offer our contribution to improve the world and shape society, I always like to remember that it is not an external task entrusted to our lives, but a dimension that involves our very nature, the structure of our being man-woman in the image and likeness of God. Not only has a mission been entrusted to us, but each and every one of us is a mission: "I am always a mission; you are always a mission; every baptized person is a mission. Those who love move forward, are pushed out of themselves, are attracted and attract, give themselves to others and weave relationships that generate life. No one is useless and insignificant for the love of God" (Message for World Mission Day 2019).
An eminent intellectual and spiritual figure, Cardinal Newman, has illuminating words on this. I quote some: "I am created to do and to be someone for whom no one else is created. I occupy a place in God's councils, in God's world: a place no one else occupies. It matters little whether I am rich or poor, despised or esteemed by men: God knows me and calls me by name. He has entrusted me with a task that he has entrusted to no one else. I have my mission. In some way, I am necessary to his plans". And he continues: "[God] has not created me in vain. I will do good, I will do his work. I will be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in the place he has assigned to me even without my knowing it, as long as I follow his commandments and serve him in my vocation" (J.H. Newman, Meditations and Prayers, Milan 2002, 38-39).
Brothers and sisters, your research, your studies, and especially these occasions of dialogue are so necessary and important because awareness of the vocation to which every human being is called by God can spread, in different states of life and thanks to their multiple charisms. They are also useful for reflecting on today's challenges, on the anthropological crisis underway, and on the necessary promotion of human and Christian vocations. And it is important that there be, also thanks to your contribution, an increasingly effective circularity among the different vocations, so that the works that flow from the lay state of life in the service of society and the Church, together with the gift of ordained ministry and consecrated life, can contribute to generating hope in a world burdened by heavy experiences of death.
Generating this hope, placing oneself at the service of the Kingdom of God for the construction of an open and fraternal world is a task entrusted to every woman and every man of our time. Thank you for the contribution you give in this sense. Thank you for your work these days. I entrust it to the Lord in prayer, through the intercession of Mary, Icon of vocation and Mother of every vocation. And please, do not forget to pray for me too.
Words of the Holy Father at the end of the speech
I wish you all good work! And do not be afraid in these rich moments in the life of the Church. The Holy Spirit asks us for one important thing: fidelity. But fidelity is on the way, and fidelity often leads us to take risks. "Museum fidelity" is not fidelity. Move forward with the courage to discern and risk seeking God's will. I wish you all the best. Courage and forward, without losing your sense of humor!
Synod Hall Friday, March 1, 2024
Words of His Holiness before the speech
Good morning! I ask to read, so I won't strain myself too much; I still have a cold and reading for a while tires me. But I would like to emphasize one thing: it is very important that this meeting, this encounter between men and women, takes place because today the ugliest danger is the gender ideology, which erases differences. I have asked for studies to be done on this ugly ideology of our time, which erases differences and makes everything equal; to erase the difference is to erase humanity. Man and woman, instead, exist in a fruitful "tension". I remember reading a novel from the beginning of the twentieth century, written by the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury: The Lord of the World. The novel talks about the future and is prophetic because it shows this tendency to erase all differences. It's interesting to read, if you have time, read it, because there are these problems of today; that man was a prophet.
Brothers and sisters!
I am happy to participate in this Conference promoted by the Center for Research and Anthropology of Vocations, during which scholars from various parts of the world, each starting from their own expertise, will discuss the theme "Man-woman image of God. For an anthropology of vocations." I greet all the participants and thank Cardinal Ouellet for his words: we are not yet saints, but we hope to always remain on the path to becoming saints, this is the first vocation we have received! And thanks above all because, a few years ago, together with other authoritative people and seeking the alliance between knowledge, he gave life to this Center, to initiate an international academic research aimed at better understanding the meaning and importance of vocations, in the Church and in society.
The purpose of this Conference is first and foremost to consider and valorize the anthropological dimension of every vocation. This leads us back to an elementary and fundamental truth, which today we need to rediscover in all its beauty: the life of the human being is a vocation. Let's not forget it: the anthropological dimension, which underlies every call within the community, has to do with an essential characteristic of the human being as such: that is, that the human being itself is a vocation. Each of us, both in the major choices concerning a state of life, and in the numerous occasions and situations in which they are incarnated and take shape, discovers and expresses oneself as called, as a person who realizes oneself in listening and responding, sharing one's being and gifts with others for the common good.
This discovery leads us out of the isolation of a self-referential ego and leads us to look at ourselves as an identity in relationship: I exist and live in relation to who generated me, to the reality that transcends me, to others and to the world around me, with respect to which I am called to embrace with joy and responsibility a specific and personal mission.
This anthropological truth is fundamental because it fully responds to the desire for human fulfillment and happiness that dwells in our hearts. In today's cultural context, sometimes there is a tendency to forget or obscure this reality, with the risk of reducing the human being to his or her mere material needs or primary needs, as if he or she were an object without consciousness and will, simply dragged along by life as part of a mechanical gear. Instead, man and woman are created by God and are an image of the Creator; they carry within them a desire for eternity and happiness that God himself has sown in their hearts and that they are called to fulfill through a specific vocation. For this reason, a healthy inner tension dwells within us that we must never stifle: we are called to happiness, to the fullness of life, to something great to which God has destined us. The life of each of us, no one excluded, is not an accident along the way; our being in the world is not merely a result of chance, but we are part of a design of love and we are invited to go out of ourselves and realize it, for ourselves and for others.
For this reason, if it is true that each of us has a mission, that is, is called to offer our contribution to improve the world and shape society, I always like to remember that it is not an external task entrusted to our lives, but a dimension that involves our very nature, the structure of our being man-woman in the image and likeness of God. Not only has a mission been entrusted to us, but each and every one of us is a mission: "I am always a mission; you are always a mission; every baptized person is a mission. Those who love move forward, are pushed out of themselves, are attracted and attract, give themselves to others and weave relationships that generate life. No one is useless and insignificant for the love of God" (Message for World Mission Day 2019).
An eminent intellectual and spiritual figure, Cardinal Newman, has illuminating words on this. I quote some: "I am created to do and to be someone for whom no one else is created. I occupy a place in God's councils, in God's world: a place no one else occupies. It matters little whether I am rich or poor, despised or esteemed by men: God knows me and calls me by name. He has entrusted me with a task that he has entrusted to no one else. I have my mission. In some way, I am necessary to his plans". And he continues: "[God] has not created me in vain. I will do good, I will do his work. I will be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in the place he has assigned to me even without my knowing it, as long as I follow his commandments and serve him in my vocation" (J.H. Newman, Meditations and Prayers, Milan 2002, 38-39).
Brothers and sisters, your research, your studies, and especially these occasions of dialogue are so necessary and important because awareness of the vocation to which every human being is called by God can spread, in different states of life and thanks to their multiple charisms. They are also useful for reflecting on today's challenges, on the anthropological crisis underway, and on the necessary promotion of human and Christian vocations. And it is important that there be, also thanks to your contribution, an increasingly effective circularity among the different vocations, so that the works that flow from the lay state of life in the service of society and the Church, together with the gift of ordained ministry and consecrated life, can contribute to generating hope in a world burdened by heavy experiences of death.
Generating this hope, placing oneself at the service of the Kingdom of God for the construction of an open and fraternal world is a task entrusted to every woman and every man of our time. Thank you for the contribution you give in this sense. Thank you for your work these days. I entrust it to the Lord in prayer, through the intercession of Mary, Icon of vocation and Mother of every vocation. And please, do not forget to pray for me too.
Words of the Holy Father at the end of the speech
I wish you all good work! And do not be afraid in these rich moments in the life of the Church. The Holy Spirit asks us for one important thing: fidelity. But fidelity is on the way, and fidelity often leads us to take risks. "Museum fidelity" is not fidelity. Move forward with the courage to discern and risk seeking God's will. I wish you all the best. Courage and forward, without losing your sense of humor!
