In a message to the students attending the first class in the Secondary School of the Bishop’s Conservatory, Bishop Mario Grech made an appeal for women never to allow anyone to deprive them of their feminine identity.

Bishop Grech said, “it is a fact that we are living in a masculine culture that is conditioning the mind and heart of the female. In fact, very often a woman may find herself thinking and acting, sometimes without realising, in a way that men want her to behave so that she becomes less “woman” and more “man.”

“It is true that over the years there were advances in what is called women’s rights, but not all of what society has accepted has led to true advancement of the woman. At times women found themselves reduced to being considered as “objects” in schemes designed and dictated by men. Therefore, I appeal to young women to be on their guard about all that is their feminine patrimony, because if the proper characteristics of womanhood are slowly eroded or disappear we would have lost an essential and irreplaceable element that makes our life complete.

“One of the reasons why I am pleased that the Church runs this secondary school for you young women is because I believe that this educational institution is capable of helping you to develop your feminine genius so that you would be able to give your contribution to society and the church in the future.

“In fact, I wish to see more women offering their contribution among God’s people. The material assistance that many women, among them also those consecrated to God, are giving, has great value, but this is not enough. I see the need for women to contribute also their thoughts and their hearts, not only in the structures where pastoral projects of the ecclesial communities are planned, but also in the fields of theological reflection.

Women should not be just those who follow the decisions but also those who help in the reflection of theological, spiritual and pastoral thought. It is a fact that very often theological reflection and predication, as well as our pastoral attitudes as a Church, are devised and decided by the men! This is a considerable deficit and I wish to see more female disciples of the Lord helping the Church, also the local one, to overcome this difficulty,” Bishop Grech concluded.

Bishop Mario Grech gave this message during a celebration about the “Word of God and the Woman” organised by the pastoral team of the school of the Conservatory, on held on Wednesday.

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