From john.lawrence@nygate.undp.orgFri Sep 15 10:32:58 1995
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 95 15:21:34 -0700
From: John Lawrence <john.lawrence@nygate.undp.org>
Reply to: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org
To: istitik@uni-hohenheim.de, john.lawrence@nygate.undp.org,
    beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org, carmelita.banting@nygate.undp.org
Subject: HOLY SEE STATEMENT of Prof. Mary Ann GLENDON

Attached should be the Speech by the representative of the Holy See at 
Beijing. Please confirm receipt. Thanks & best regards.> ISO: VAT
> ***************************************************************************
> The electronic version of this document has been prepared at the Fourth
> World Conference on Women by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
> in collaboration with the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women
> Secretariat.
> ***************************************************************************
> AS WRITTEN
> 
> HOLY SEE STATEMENT of Prof. Mary Ann GLENDON
> Head of the Delegation of the Holy See
> to the Fourth World Conference on Women
> 
> Beijing, 5 September 1995
> 
> Madame Chairperson,
> 
> The Delegation of the Holy See wishes first of all to express its
> special thanks and appreciation to the Government of the People's
> Republic of China, to whom it gladly renews the cordial and respectful
> good wishes of Pope John Paul II. The warm reception we have received
> from the authorities and from the people here in Beijing and the
> efficient manner in which the arrangements for the Conference have been
> managed have further helped to make this World Conference such a
> memorable experience.
> 
> 1. We are celebrating the Fourth World Conference on Women. Our
> Conference follows on a series of other International Conferences which
> will surely mark the international social climate, as we move to the end
> of this millennium and to the beginning of the new one. From Rio de
> Janeiro to Vienna, from Cairo to Copenhagen and now here in Beijing, the
> community of nations and each single State have been focusing their
> attention on the significance and the practical consequences of what was
> affirmed in the first principle of the Rio Declaration, namely, that
> "Human beings are at the centre of the concern for sustainable
> development".
> 
> Today, more than ever our task is to move from aspiration to action. We
> must see that what has been affirmed at the universal level becomes a
> reality in the everyday lives of women in all parts of the world. The
> historical oppression of women has deprived the human race of untold
> resources. Recognition of the equality in dignity and fundamental rights
> of women and men, and guaranteeing access by all women to the full
> exercise of those rights will have far-reaching consequences and will
> liberate enormous reserves of intelligence and energy sorely needed in a
> world that is groaning for peace and justice.
> 
> During the preparations for this Conference, the Holy See has listened
> carefully to the hopes, fears and daily concerns of women in various
> parts of the world and from different walks of life, as well as to their
> criticisms. Pope John Paul II has directly addressed the concerns of the
> Conference in numerous talks and encounters, especially in his recent
> personal Letter to Women. He has acknowledged the deficiencies of past
> positions, including those of the Catholic Church, and has welcomed this
> initiative of the United Nations as an important contribution to a
> global improvement in the situation of women in today's world.
> 
> The Delegation of the Holy See, headed by a woman and composed mainly of
> women with varied backgrounds and experiences, applauds the purpose of
> the draft Platform of Action to free women at last from the unfair
> burdens of cultural conditioning that have so often prevented them even
> from becoming conscious of their own dignity.
> 
> The views of the Holy See represent the aspirations of many people,
> believers of all faiths and non-believers alike, who share the same
> fundamental vision and wish it to be known. It is only when different
> viewpoints are sensitively listened to and appreciated that one can
> arrive at a true discernment of situations and a consensus on how to
> remedy them.
> 
> 2. I will draw attention, therefore, to some of the many points where my
> Delegation concurs with the Platform of Action, while at the same time I
> will also indicate some areas which my Delegation feels ought to have
> been developed in a different manner.
> 
> At times in the preparatory process, the Holy See has had strenuously to
> emphasize that marriage, motherhood and the family, or the adherence to
> religious values, should not be presented only in a negative manner. To
> affirm the dignity and rights of all women requires respect for the
> roles of women whose quest for personal fulfilment and the construction
> of a stable society is inseparably linked to their commitments to God,
> family, neighbour and especially to their children.
> 
> The position of women is linked with the fate of the entire human family
> There can be no real progress for women, or men, at the expense of
> children or of their underprivileged brothers and sisters. Genuine
> advances for women cannot overlook the inequalities that exist among
> women themselves. Enduring progress for women must be rooted in
> solidarity between young and old, between male and female, as well as
> between those who enjoy a comfortable standard of living with ample
> access to basic needs and those who are suffering deprivation.
> 
> At the same time, it should be clear that promoting women's exercise of
> all their talents and rights without undermining their roles within the
> family will require calling not only husbands and fathers to their
> family responsibilities, but governments to their social duties.
> 
> Because so many women face exceptional difficulties as they seek to
> balance greater participation in economic and social life with family
> responsibilities, this Conference rightly places a high priority on the
> right of women to effectively enjoy equal opportunities and conditions
> with men in the workplace as well as in the decision-making structures
> of society, especially as they affect women themselves.
> 
> Justice for women in the workplace requires in the first place the
> removal of all forms of the exploitation of women and young girls as
> cheap labour, all too often at the service of the lifestyle of the
> affluent. It requires equal compensation and equal opportunities for
> advancement, while addressing also the added responsibilities they may
> bear as working mothers, and according special attention to the problems
> of women who are the sole providers for their family.
> 
> Furthermore, effective action on behalf of working mothers requires
> recognition of the priority of human over economic values. If efficiency
> and productivity are considered the primary goals of society, then the
> values of motherhood will be penalized. The fear of reinforcing certain
> stereotypes concerning the roles of women, should not prevent this
> Conference from clearly addressing the special challenges and the real-
> life needs and values of those millions of women who dedicate themselves
> to motherhood and family responsibilities, either on a fulltime basis or
> who reconcile them with other activities of a social and economic
> nature. Our societies offer far too little tangible recognition or
> concrete assistance to those women who are struggling to do a decent job
> of raising children in economically trying circumstances. For our
> Conference not to face these issues would be to render true equality for
> the majority of the world's women even more elusive.
> 
> The Holy See, at this Conference, as it did also on the occasion of the
> World Summit on Social Development, stresses the importance of finding
> new ways of recognizing the economic and social value of women's
> unremunerated work, in the family, in the production and conservation of
> food and in a wide range of socially productive work within the
> community. Women must be guaranteed measures of economic and social
> security which reflect their equal dignity, their equal rights to
> ownership of property and access to credit and resources. The effective
> contribution of women's work to economic security and social well-being
> is often greater than that of men.
> 
> 3. I wish to return, now, to the fact that so many women today do not
> have access to those basic rights which belong to them as human beings,
> to the extent, in fact, as I have said, that they are often even unaware
> of their own dignity. I return to this theme to indicate some areas of
> special concern and commitment of the Holy See for the coming years.
> 
> It is well-known that the Catholic Church, in its manifold structures,
> has been a pioneer and leader in providing education to girls in both
> developed and developing countries, and often in areas and cultures
> where few groups were willing to provide equal educational opportunities
> to both girls and boys.
> 
> Every human person has the right to be helped to make the fullest use of
> the talents and abilities they possess and thus, as the Universal
> Declaration of Human Rights asserts, "everyone has the right to
> education". Universal access to basic education is, indeed, an
> established goal of all nations. Yet in today's world, of the
> scandalously high number of persons who are illiterate, over two thirds
> are women. Of the millions of children who are not enrolled in basic
> education, about seventy percent are girls. What is to be said of the
> situation in which the simple fact of being a girl reduces the
> likelihood of even being born, of survival or of then receiving adequate
> education, nutrition and health care?
> 
> On August 29 last, His Holiness Pope John Paul II committed all of the
> over 300.000 social, caring and educational institutions of the Catholic
> Church to a concerted and priority strategy directed to girls and young
> women, and especially to the poorest, to ensure for them equality of
> status, welfare and opportunity, especially with regard to literacy and
> education, health and nutrition and to ensure that they can, in all
> circumstances, continue and complete their education. The Holy See has
> made a special appeal to the Church's educational institutions and
> religious congregations, on their own or as part of wider national
> strategies, to make this commitment in favour of the girl child a
> reality. This is, in fact, a commitment already assumed at the
> Copenhagen Summit for Social Development and the Holy See, as on that
> occasion, places itself side by side with all the governments of the
> world to work in collaboration with them on such programmes of
> education. More and more it is recognized that investment in the
> education of girls is the fundamental key to the later full advancement
> of women.
> 
> The question of education is closely linked with the question of poverty
> and the fact that the majority of those who today live in abject poverty
> are women and children. Efforts must be strengthened to eliminate all
> those cultural and legal obstacles which impair the economic security of
> women. The reasons specific to each region or economic system which
> render women more likely to bear the heavier burden of poverty must be
> addressed. No part of the world is without its scandal of poverty which
> strikes women most. Every society has its specific pockets of poverty,
> of groups of persons especially exposed to poverty, at times within
> sight of others whose patterns of consumption and lifestyle are all too
> often insensitive and unsustainable. The "feminization of poverty" must
> be of concern to all women. Its social, political and economic roots
> must be addressed. Women themselves must be in the forefront in the
> fight against the inequalities among women in today's world, through the
> concrete caring and direct solidarity with the poorest among women.
> 
> May I draw attention here to the extraordinary work that has been done,
> and is being done today, by a category of women whose service is so
> often taken for granted: that of religious sisters. In their communities
> they have developed innovative forms of female spirituality. From their
> communities, they have developed forms of solidarity, caring and
> leadership for and among women. They are examples of how religious
> principles are for so many women today a source of inspiration in
> fostering a new identity for women and a source of perseverance in the
> service and advancement of women.
> 
> 4. The Holy See also recognizes the need to address the urgent specific
> health care needs of women. It supports the special emphasis of the
> Conference documents on expanding and improving women's health care,
> especially since so many women in today's world do not even have access
> to a basic health care centre. In such a situation, the Holy See has
> expressed its concern regarding a tendency to focus privileged attention
> and resources on the consideration of health problems related to
> sexuality, whereas a comprehensive approach to the health of all women
> would have to place greater emphasis on such questions as poor
> nutrition, unsafe water and those diseases that afflict millions of
> women each year, taking a vast toll on mothers and children.
> 
> The Holy See concurs with the Platform of Action in dealing with
> questions of sexuality and reproduction, where it affirms that changes
> in the attitudes of both men and women are necessary conditions for
> achieving equality and that responsibility in sexual matters belongs to
> both men and women. Women are, moreover, most often the victims of
> irresponsible sexual behaviour, in terms of personal suffering, of
> disease, poverty and the deterioration of family life. The Conference
> documents, in the view of my Delegation, are not bold enough in
> acknowledging the threat to women's health arising from widespread
> attitudes of sexual permissiveness. The document likewise refrains from
> challenging societies which have abdicated their responsibility to
> attempt to change, at their very roots, irresponsible attitudes and
> behaviour.
> 
> The international community has consistently stressed that the decision
> of parents concerning the number of their children and the spacing of
> births must be made freely and responsibly. In this context, the
> Catholic Church's teaching on procreation is often misunderstood. To say
> that it supports procreation at all costs is indeed a travesty of its
> teaching on responsible parenthood. Its teaching on the means of family
> planning is often regarded as too demanding on persons. But no way of
> ensuring deep respect for human life and its transmission can dispense
> with self-discipline and self-restraint, particularly in cultures which
> foster self-indulgence and immediate gratification. Responsible
> procreation also requires especially the equal participation and sharing
> of responsibility by husbands, something which will only be achieved
> through a process of changing of attitudes and behaviour.
> 
> The Holy See joins with all participants in the Conference in the
> condemnation of coercion in population policies. It is to be hoped that
> the recommendations of this Conference to this effect will be adhered to
> by all nations. It is also to be hoped that, in order to arrive at
> informed consent, couples will be provided with clear information about
> all possible health risks associated with family planning methods,
> especially where these are at an experimental stage or in cases where
> their use in certain nations has been restricted.
> 
> There is clear consensus within the international community that
> abortion should not be promoted as a means of family planning and that
> all efforts must be made to eliminate those factors which lead women to
> seek abortions. Pope John Paul II has emphasized, in speaking of the
> responsibility for a women's tragic and painful decision to have an
> abortion, "before being something to blame on the woman", there are
> occasions when " guilt needs to be attributed to men and to the
> complicity of the general social environment". All who are genuinely
> committed to the advancement of women can and must offer a woman or a
> girl who is pregnant, frightened and alone a better alternative than the
> destruction of her own unborn child. Once again, concerned women must
> take the lead in the fight against societal practices which facilitate
> the irresponsibility of men while stigmatizing women, and against a vast
> industry that extracts its profits from the very bodies of women, while
> at the same time purporting to be their liberators.
> 
> The Conference has, however, rendered a great service by casting a
> spotlight on violence towards women and girls, violence which may be
> physical, sexual, psychological or moral. Much more needs to be done in
> all our societies to identify the range and the causes of violence
> against women. The extent of sexual violence in the industrialized
> nations, as it becomes more evident, comes often as a shock to their
> populations. The fact of the use, in this twentieth century, of sexual
> violence as an instrument of armed conflict has stunned the conscience
> of humanity.
> 
> All such forms of violence against women should be condemned and social
> policies to eliminate the causes of such violence should be given
> priority consideration. More must be done to eliminate the practice of
> female genital mutilation and other deplorable practices such as child
> prostitution, trafficking in children and their organs and child
> marriages. Society must also reach out to all those who have been the
> victims of such violence, ensuring that justice be applied to the
> perpetrators of such violence, as well as offering the victims holistic
> healing and rehabilitation into society.
> 
> The question of violence experienced by women is also linked to those
> factors which underlie the widespread hedonistic and commercial culture
> which encourages the systematic exploitation of sexuality and especially
> reduces women to the role of sex objects. Should the Conference not
> condemn such attitudes, it could well be accused of condoning the very
> root causes of much violence against women and girls.
> 
> Finally, I feel that greater attention could have been drawn to the
> needs of specific categories of women, especially within changing social
> and economic environments. I will simply mention here elderly women, who
> are among those who experience special problems in all our societies.
> 
> Madame Chairperson,
> 
> The title of our Conference is "equality, development and peace". We
> must move from a vision of human persons looked on as mere instruments
> or objects to one in which every person can fully realize her or his
> dignity and full potential. Our century has been a century of
> unprecedented scientific progress, but one also which has seen horrific
> conflicts and wars. In the midst of a culture of death, it has been very
> often women who have safeguarded and promoted a civilization of love,
> preserving the vestiges of human dignity throughout the darkest days and
> years. Ignored, underestimated and taken for granted, the beneficent
> influence of women has radiated throughout history, enriching the lives
> of successive generations.
> 
> It is to the future that we must now look. The freer women are to share
> their gifts with society, and to assume leadership in society, the
> better are the prospects for the entire human community to progress in
> wisdom, justice and dignified living. The Delegation of the Holy See
> hopes that this Conference and the name of the great city of Beijing
> will be remembered by history as an important moment in which, by
> advancing women's freedom and dignity, we will have contributed to
> building a civilization of love, where every woman, man and child can
> live in peace, liberty and mutual esteem, with full respect for their
> rights and responsibilities; a civilization where life and love can
> flourish; a civilization where the culture of death shall have no
> dominion. May Almighty God accompany us and sustain us in our task.
>