Pope Francis Denounces Gender Ideology

Dateline: 01 March 2024 — Addressing participants in the international Symposium “Man-Woman: Image of God,” Pope Francis described so-called gender ideology as the “ugliest danger” of our time, because it cancels out the differences that define humanity.

Pope Francis, on Friday, again spoke out against gender theory describing it as an “ugly ideology of our time” that erases all distinctions between men and women. To cancel this difference “is to erase humanity. Man and woman, instead, exist in a fruitful ‘tension’,” he said.

The remarks came as he opened his address to participants in the international Symposium “Man-Woman: Image of God. Towards an Anthropology of Vocations” held in the Vatican on March 1-2.

In the prepared text, the Pope reflected on the theme of the Congress which is aimed at highlighting the anthropological dimension of every vocation.

Indeed, he remarked, “the life of the human being is a vocation” with a relational character: “I exist and live in relation to who generated me, to the reality that transcends me, to others and to the world around me, in which I am called to embrace a specific and personal mission with joy and responsibility.”

This fundamental anthropological truth is sometimes overlooked in today’s cultural context, where human beings tend to be reduced to their mere material and primary needs. Yet, Pope Francis said, they are more than this. Created by God — in His image — man and woman “carry within themselves a desire for eternity and happiness that God himself has planted in their hearts and that they are called to fulfil through a specific vocation.”

“Our being in the world is not a mere fruit of chance, but we are part of a design of love and are invited to go out of ourselves and realize it, for ourselves and for others,” the Pope said.

“We are called to happiness, to the fullness of life, to something great to which God has destined us.”

Recalling Cardinal Saint John Henry Newman’s “Meditations and Prayers,” Pope Francis further remarked that not only have we all been entrusted with a mission, but “each and every one of us is a mission.”

The Pope therefore welcomed the symposium and the studies conducted on this topic because, he said, “they spread awareness of the vocation to which every human being is called by God,” and they are also useful to reflect on today’s challenges, on the ongoing anthropological crisis, and on the need to promote human and Christian vocations.

“Move forward with the courage to discern and risk seeking God’s will.”

~~ Lisa Zengarini, Vatican News (edited by Peter Edwards)

For more information, please read Robert Shine’s March 2, 2024, article “Pope Francis Refers to ‘Gender Ideology’ as the ‘Worst Danger’ Today” at New Ways Ministry here.