Peruvian bishops denounce gender feminism as damaging to women and the family

Lima, Peru, Mar 7, 2005 / 22:00 pm

In a statement released to mark the celebration of International Women’s Day, the Bishops Conference of Peru warned that the injustices suffered by women in past centuries are being repeated today with ideologies such as “gender feminism,” which leads to the destruction of the family through a distorted vision of reality.

In a message entitled, “Woman, Heart of the Family,” the bishops noted “the struggles for the vindication of women throughout history” but argued that “gender ideology denigrates women who are wives and mothers, because it holds that motherhood and marriage are two instruments of masculine domination.”

“This idea represents a profound intolerance that is just as condemnable as the idea that causes machismo in social life,” they warned.

The bishops underscored the need for recognition of the family as the basic cell of society and of the fundamental and irreplaceable role of women as wives and mothers, in order for there to be a more just and reconciled society.

“It is not an exaggeration to call her the heart of the family, since a woman who is fulfilled as wife and mother becomes the nucleus that makes family life in all of its richness possible,” the bishops noted, adding that his does not equate to a lack of appreciation for so many women who are fulfilled in the single life through their contributions to a more humane society.

Lastly, the bishops expressed their recognition and admiration for ‘all women who with their work and sacrifice, often heroic, “make human life worthy of living.”