Berkley Center

Very little, if any, of the media attention on the Synod on the Family was devoted to its impact on young women and mothers. This is curious given the buzz generated by some of Pope Francis’ recent remarks about women, such as his quote in America magazine saying, “It is necessary to broaden the opportunities for a stronger presence of women in the Church," and "We have to work harder to develop a profound theology of the woman." The pope also remarked at a recent symposium in Rome celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Saint Pope John Paul II’s 1988 apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem, "It pleases me to think that the Church is not il chiesa ['the church,' masculine]: it is la chiesa [feminine]. The Church is a woman! The Church is a mother! And that's beautiful, eh? We have to think deeply about this."

   

I agree.

I am a woman. The Church is my mother. And it is indeed time think deeply about how Catholic women today are reimagining what it means to be a faithful mother and spouse. Though positive developments in workplace policy opened doors for many women with professional aspirations, the essential contribution and role of motherhood has been devalued, and must be reclaimed.

Over the last several decades, the Church has remained the only global institution that has defended the importance of fertility equality among spouses, the sanctity of human life in all its stages, and the foundational and distinct role of motherhood in society. Even so, many Catholic women have been pulled in by the cultural undercurrents promoting contraception, abortion, and shame about motherhood. This is especially pronounced among women of my generation, women in their 20s and 30s, so many of whom are terrified of marriage and motherhood.

I’m a young mother who converted to Catholicism after an initial encounter with its teachings on human sexuality. I don’t just believe that what the Church teaches is invaluable for women, I live it. And I know it empowers women to celebrate the true feminism of the Catholic faith—that women are equal in dignity and worth and need to be honored for precisely who God created them to be.

As Catholic leaders contemplate how to reach their young women in advance of the 2015 Ordinary Synod on the Family, which will make official declarations on how the Church will engage with the modern family, there are two arenas in which I believe they must focus. Regardless of where one falls on the divisive issues discussed these past few weeks, these are some modest proposals where we should all be able to find some common ground:

1. The Promotion of Natural Family Planning (NFP). Women are hungry for an alternative to invasive, hormone-influencing artificial birth control. This can be seen, for example, within the organics movement, which has spawned its own version of NFP, known in the crunchy crowd as the Fertility Awareness Method.

The Church could completely overhaul its approach to Natural Family Planning, starting with a new name to recapture interest and attention. It should disassociate itself with certain methodologies, such as the sympto-thermal method, which confuse and discourage women, and officially approve other methodologies that are simple, scientific, and effective, such as the Billings Method or the Creighton Model. The Church could also ask bishops to establish in every diocese a coordinator for promotion of NFP and support groups for women trying to live it out. And the Church could find new ways to explain NFP that resonate with modern understandings about awareness and bodily control. One recent study found that only half of women ages 26 to 35 can locate one of their most basic reproductive organs on a diagram, indicating a prime opportunity for the Church to use the profound bodily awareness that fertility regulation entails in its outreach to young women, and the sense of empowerment that this gives women. To be sure, the physical component of NFP is not the whole picture; the teaching derives from a teleological understanding of personhood and human sexuality. But it can’t hurt to draw out the physical aspects a bit more in trying to break through to a demographic that it’s not reaching very well.

To be clear, most young Catholic women are not following the Church’s teaching on human sexuality. But they are more open and interested than previous generations. Another recent study found that practicing Catholic women ages 18 to 34 were more than twice as likely as older generations to accept the Church’s teaching on contraception. The same study found that a stunning 33 percent of women are misinformed in that they think the teaching is optional. This study also found a “soft middle ground” of women open to and interested in the teaching. These numbers should encourage Church leaders to speak out more clearly about the teaching.

Why not offer free NFP classes to engaged women, taught by women only—and ideally, women with some medical credentials? Why not make it easier for women to get access to this information, instead of hiding it in a Church brochure? Why not promote online access to counselors and fertility apps that can make this information relevant to Catholic women’s daily and digital lives?

Just opening up an honest and humble conversation about how to address the widespread disregard for one of the Church’s most beautiful and pro-woman teachings would be a good start. So many of our culture’s problems—from the stunning rise in children living apart from both their biological parents, to a skyrocketing number of out-of-wedlock births, to high rates of infidelity—can be stripped down to a faulty understanding of human sexuality that is completely severed from procreation.

The Church can't spend enough time focusing on how to rebrand and promote the teaching on family planning to women especially.

2. Supporting Working Mothers. This is a fraught term in many respects, as it implies that mothers who do not work outside the home are not at work, whereas the Church rightfully teaches that the work of a mother is the most important work. But for lack of a better phrase, the culture is embroiled in debates and discussions about women searching to balance their professional goals with their roles as mothers, and these discussions absolutely extend into the Catholic world. Many women, not excluding Catholic women, delay marriage and motherhood for fear of its impact on their professional lives. Many Catholic mothers are made to feel badly about their choice to continue professional pursuits as moms, as if the decision is contrary to the faith. For many other women, continuing to work is not a choice, but a necessity, often requiring long hours and poor childcare options. What can the Church do to support these women and the strains felt by their families?

Pope Francis touched on the need for the Church to explore the realities of the modern working woman when he made his famous remark about the need for a distinctly focused theology of women in his press conference returning from Rio. He remarked that the role of women “does not end just with being a mother and with housework.” This was not a diversion from the past, as the Church has long acknowledged the contributions of women in various sectors of society and recognized that physical motherhood is a vocation to which not all women are called. Even so, Catholic women who are called to be mothers would benefit from some guidance and recognition from the Church of the strains of juggling motherhood and childbearing.

The ongoing discussions on modern family life might also consider more ways to include mothers within the structures of the Holy See. The Pontifical Council for the Laity’s Women’s Section and the Pontifical Council for the Family could be excellent platforms to elevate more voices of mothers from all walks of life around the globe. The voices of women who have struggled through and triumphed in maternity are essential in combating global threats to the family from abortion, divorce, and distorted views of human sexuality. As the Holy Father said, the Church is a mother, and the ongoing conversation about family life is an opportunity to “think deeply” about what this means practically for women and mothers.