"We women have been looked at with short-range lights.""The Church has cared for the needy in every pandemic.""The Church is born of the side of Christ, so that she as a woman also proceeds from his substance and is always in him as a feminine element. On June 14, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, presented with these words the World Observatory of Women (OMM) promoted by the Pontifical Council for Women. World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations (WUCWO).
It is an initiative that involves all kinds of women in the world, including many of those who normally "have no voice" and "are not seen," WUCWO explains. The aim is to inspire and generate pastoral strategies, but also to renew public policies in support of the integral human development of women, their families, communities and entire peoples.
"We must look in order to recognize. But we must also allow ourselves to be looked at so that our own self may acquire its true dimension," Cardinal Ouellet added. All these gazes, in some way, are gathered in the gaze of Mary, who sees us with tenderness and compassion, for having sinned so many times of omission, so many times of having been traitors. Mary transforms all this complaint into a call to conversion. Conversion of heart that we all need".
Impact of Covid-19
One of the first fruits of this Observatory was the preparation of the first report on the Covid-19 impact on women in Latin America and the Caribbeancarried out by the WMO in alliance with the Pastoral Socio-Anthropological Observatory of the Center for Knowledge Management of the Episcopal Conference of Latin America (CELAM), represented by its President, Msgr. Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte, OFM.
Commenting on this report, Monica Santamarina de Robles, WUCWO's Treasurer, explained how this first work has succeeded in gathering examples of women's strength and resilience that helped to cope with the crisis. It has also served to highlight the main proposals made by Latin American and Caribbean women.
Among the effects of the pandemic recorded by the report are the increase in reports of gender violence with the relative assistance of the State in safeguarding against these crimes; the deterioration of women's economic autonomy due to quarantine measures; the deterioration of physical and mental health (fear, depression, etc.); difficulties in education; the increase in organized crime and human trafficking; experiences of grief and loneliness due to the sudden disappearance of family members.
Care as an essential dimension
Sister Alessandra Smerilli, Secretary of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development and delegate of the Vatican's Covid-19 Commission, also spoke at the presentation. She added: "We dream of a world in which, when we meet a person for the first time, we ask 'who do you care for' and not just 'what do you do'.
Founded in 1910
The World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations was born in 1910 and today it gathers almost 100 organizations from all over the world. It is active in more than 50 countries, counting about 8 million women in all stages of life. In 2006 the Holy See established it as an International Public Association of the Faithful and maintains its consultative status at the United Nations with the Economic and Social Council, the Human Rights Council, the FAO, the Council of Europe and is an Official Partner of UNESCO.
Among the main areas of its activity is the promotion of women's training to meet the challenges of the contemporary world, awareness of respect for cultural diversity, promotion and coordination of the activities of member organizations.
