Women who have enacted a feminine style of holiness

On March 7 and 8, 2022, the Catholic University of Ávila (UCAV), in collaboration with the Pontifical Urbaniana University and the Institute for Advanced Studies on Women of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, organized an International Inter-University Conference on Women Doctors of the Church and Patron Saints of Europe: Teresa of Jesus, Teresa of Lisieux, Hildegard of Bingen, Bridget of Sweden, Catherine of Siena and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. The proceeds of the event will be donated to three institutions of Latin, Greek-Melkite and Maronite rite for the literacy of girls in Lebanon.

Professor Gabriella Gambino, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, opened the meeting by addressing an introductory greeting to the participants. In her joy at having contributed to the realization of the conference, Gambino explained that one of the objectives of the meeting is to "gather the still fruitful legacy of these extraordinary women of the Church, who, although they lived in very different eras, continue to irrigate the world with the gifts of the divine Spirit and in a surprising way have much to suggest and reveal to the women and men of our time.

Women who, through their intimate and profound love for Christ and their industrious action in the service of the Church and society, have known how to link the earth to Heaven.

A holiness with a feminine face, manifested in the "perennial authority of their doctrine, which extends beyond the confines of the Catholic Church" and which was expressed in historical circumstances and geographical contexts that make them, especially today, decisive figures for the European continent: to inspire young people, so that they may know how to make the dialogue within the Church and with the world fruitful in order to build a culture and an ethic of unity and peace.

Pope Francis sent a final Message to the participants in attendance and online. In his Message, the Holy Father urged everyone to "promote this 'feminine holiness' which makes the Church and the world so fruitful", stressing that "the preeminent teachings of these saints, for which they were declared Doctors or Patronesses of the Church, are particularly timely due to their enduring depth and relevance and, in the present circumstances, can offer light and hope to our fragmented and fractious world".