On the Dignity and Vocation of Women

An apostolic letter 'on the dignity and vocation of women on the occasion of the Marian Year', dated 15 August 1988, the Solemnity of the Assumption, at the close of the Marian Year of 1987-88. It is written as a meditation rather than a legislative text. It begins with Mary as 'woman, Mother of God', then turns to Genesis: man and woman created together in the image and likeness of God, the 'unity of the two', and the effects of sin on their relationship, including the domination of the woman by the man, which it presents as a consequence of sin and not as the order of creation. It then reads the Gospel accounts of Jesus' meetings with women, and women at the cross and the empty tomb. The following chapters treat motherhood and virginity as two dimensions of a woman's vocation, and the Church as the Bride of Christ, where it reads Ephesians 5 as calling for a 'mutual subjection' of husband and wife and discusses the reservation of the priesthood to men. A conclusion speaks of the 'order of love' and gives thanks for every woman.