Pope Francis has condemned violence against women as a “poisonous weed” that must be uprooted completely, a message released by the Vatican Press Office reveals.
This strong statement came in a letter to the coordinators of a nationwide campaign addressing violence against women. The campaign, a collaboration including the Italian television network RAI and Radio1 Gr1, is titled “A Long Wave Against Macho Violence Towards Women.”
The Pope underscored the urgency of the issue, saying, “Violence against women is a poisonous weed afflicting our society, one that we must eradicate at its roots. These roots lie within cultural and mental frameworks, taking hold in the soil of prejudice, possession, and injustice.”
He lamented the secondary status women are often relegated to, treated as ‘inferior’ in too many contexts. Pope Francis vehemently criticized the mistreatment and abuse women endure, highlighting the plight of those “enslaved, victimized by the arrogance of those who believe they have control over women’s bodies and lives, forcing them to submit to men’s greed.”
In his address, Pope Francis also acknowledged the “ambiguous role” of the media, which he claimed can both support the elevation of women and simultaneously perpetuate harmful messages. “On one hand, they foster respect and advancement for women. Yet on the other, they perpetuate continuous messages steeped in hedonism and consumerism, where both male and female role models adhere to standards of success, self-assertion, competition, and power over others.”
“But where there is domination, there is abuse! True love does not make prisoners. The Lord wants us to be free and dignified,” declared the Pope, advocating for “fair and balanced relationships founded on respect and mutual recognition,” as the antidote to “the scourge of physical and psychological abuse against women.”
In his closing remarks, Pope Francis expressed hope that the campaign would inspire a shift in mindset. He invoked the Virgin Mary, noting that “salvation came into the world from the heart and flesh of a woman.”
“The way we treat women, in all their roles, is a reflection of our level of humanity,” concluded the Holy Father.
