The Holy Father’s Intentions: The Role of Women

I have met countless remarkable women in my life, and many of those have been during my time serving as a foreign missionary.

These aren’t women who will receive any prestigious awards. You won’t read about them online. They don’t have a long list of worldly accomplishments. 

But they are hidden and faithful, working hard to help support their families, enduring adversity, living under the burden of poverty, and sacrificing themselves daily for their children.

In the Easter readings, we hear about Mary Magdalene, the woman who found the empty tomb of Christ and was given the task of announcing the resurrection to Jesus’s disciples. 

Women have always had a particular role in the Church and the world, and so this month, Pope Francis focuses his intentions on women in need around the world:

We pray that the dignity and immense value of women be recognized in every culture, and for the end of discrimination that they experience in different parts of the world.

I think of women I’ve met who have raised children on their own, those who have suffered abuse or abandonment, those who are migrants, and those who are marginalized even by those of their own culture.

This month, during this Easter season, let us join the Holy Father in praying for women across the globe. Each time we pick up our rosary beads and say, “For the intentions of Our Holy Father,” let us pray that the dignity of women will be recognized in all cultures and that God will come to the aid of those who face discrimination and other painful hardships.

Let us pray especially through the intercession of Mary, blessed among women, and all the female saints of our Church. May they pray for all women of our time, for their holiness, their faithfulness, and their perseverance until the end.