Madrid, Spain, Sep 11, 2005 / 22:00 pm
During a special Mass in honor of Our Lady of the Choir, Bishop Juan Maria Uriarte of San Sebastian, Spain, called for a rediscovery of the vocation to motherhood and consecrated virginity for women.
Celebrating Mass at the Cathedral of Santa Maria in San Sebastian, the bishop noted the importance of women in society and their complementarity with man. “It is said, and rightly so, that Europe must breathe with both lungs: West and East. It is not less true to say that the life of our society must breathe in all aspects with its two lungs: male and female.”
Bishop Uriarte said the Church not only defends a woman’s decision to have a career, but also her call to motherhood and consecrated virginity. Motherhood, he noted, “transforms woman and brings the best out of her: generosity, self-denial, commitment, motives for living and struggling.” Thus “the low esteem shown to motherhood is a psychological mutilation of the feminine soul.”
Regarding consecrated virginity, Bishop Uriarte said it is something “different from the single life. When it is lived adequately it impregnates the entire feminine sensibility and opens it to God, and it is a source of tenderness and service for all those who are especially in need.” Nevertheless, he lamented, “vocational or consecrated virginity is so unappreciated in society and among young women.”