Responding to a woman writing to the Vatican magazine Piazza San Pietro, Pope Leo decried violence against women and emphasized that educating young people in respect is the key to preventing it.

In the context of International Women’s Day, celebrated March 8, Pope Leo XIV responded to a letter from a reader of Piazza San Pietro magazine who asked what can be done about femicides, and the pope shared that violence against women causes him “great suffering.”

Femicide is defined as a man killing a girl or a woman for the very reason that she is female. 

Pope Leo replied to a woman named Giovanna, who said she is “fortunate” to be married to a man who loves and respects her. The letter appeared in the latest issue of the publication, which this March is dedicated to women.

In her letter, the woman confessed to having “tears in her eyes” because of the “death trap” that married life becomes when a man kills a woman due to a “culture of possession.” 

Giovanna then proposed an alliance between the Catholic Church and schools to educate young people in love and respect. “Who else, if not schools and the Church, can help new generations by spreading a culture of respect, love, and above all, freedom?” she asked.

Pope Leo XIV’s response to violence against women

“You raise a major issue that for me is always a source of great suffering: violence in relationships, and in particular violence against women,” the Holy Father responded to Giovanna.

“In a world often dominated by violent thinking, we must further support the feminine genius, as St. John Paul II said, the ‘genius of women,’ protagonists and creators of a culture of care and fraternity indispensable for giving a future and dignity to all humanity,” he emphasized.

Leo XIV added that “perhaps this is also why women are beaten and murdered, because they are a sign of contradiction in this confused, uncertain, and violent society, because they point to values ​​of faith, freedom, equality, generativity, hope, solidarity, and justice.”

“These are great values, which are nevertheless attacked by a dangerous mentality that infests relationships and only produces selfishness, prejudice, discrimination, and a will to dominate,” he added.

After recalling that he had already denounced the violence of femicides in June 2025, the pope stressed that “violence, any violence, is the boundary that separates civilization from barbarism.”

Leo XIV then advised that “we must never underestimate an act of violence and we must not be afraid to denounce violence, including that climate of justification or that downplays or denies responsibility.”

“Walking together in mutual respect for our humanity is not a dream, but the only possible reality for building a world of light for all.”

A task for the Church

The pope thanked Giovanna for her suggestions for an “ever stronger educational alliance” and stated that “the Church, together with families, schools, parishes, movements and associations, religious congregations, and public institutions, can share the urgency of carrying out specific projects to prevent and stop violence against women.”

The pope also recalled that on Nov. 25, 2025, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, he emphasized that “to stop violence, we must begin with the education of young people.”

“We must begin by opening everyone’s hearts to the fact that every person is a human being who deserves respect, that dignity for men and women, for everyone.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.