Abstract
Within the divergent streams of late-modern and largely Western feminism, the experience and ethos (and ethics) of motherhood and the significance of the “maternal body” have been hotly contested and problematic. What might be called “the maternal problematic” is also evident in the highly flammable touchpoints between Catholic magisterial teaching and secular feminism—especially in relation to women’s work, vocation and perhaps most contentiously, in relation to women’s fertility and pregnancy. This article mines Pope Saint John Paul II’s major encyclical letter of 1995, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) and his intervention into this charged milieu. The Encyclical is rightly viewed as an important exegesis and expansion on the traditional Catholic magisterial teaching upon the ethics of the “sanctity of life”. This article aims to demonstrate that the Encyclical also attempts a fresh line of departure, by weaving into the ethical discussion the importance of “the maternal” as a distinctive interpersonal experience and awareness. This enriches the pastoral and ethical voice of the Church’s witness to human dignity and human life. The Encyclical contains the seeds of what this article will call “a new maternity”, a type of meta-ethos, integral to the development of a “new feminism” which is also aligned and pivotal to the formation of “a culture of life The article will suggest that far from presenting a reductive, oppressive or constructivist view of women and maternity, Evangelium Vitae, when read in synthesis with the Polish Pope’s wider ressourcement of “theological anthropology,” explores three original themes: (a) the importance of maternal “creational contemplation” in women as a force for a humane societal ethos; (b) the invitational dramatics of the maternal in understanding the Catholic ethos surrounding procreation; (c) the personal solidarity and iconic role of the Virgin Mary’s maternity in all expressions of women’s maternal vocation whether physical, existential and/or mystical.
Highlights
In 1995, Pope (Saint) John Paul II, promulgated a weighty four-part encyclical1 Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) in which he synthesized and re-articulated major threads of Catholic moral teaching and aspects of theological jurisprudence and cultural analysis, all underwritten by his own distinctive theological anthropology
In the final and programmatic section of the document, the Polish Pontiff insisted that it is incumbent upon women in a “unique and decisive” way to work in solidarity with each other to explore, articulate and promote “a new feminism” directed at promoting an authentic life-affirming human dignity and relationship
In this close investigation of the Encyclical Evangelium Vitae, it can be found that the Catholic tradition is neither offered a passing or minor call to encourage a “new feminism” nor is the document a charter for a glib sloganistic version of a “pro-life” stance
Summary
In 1995, Pope (Saint) John Paul II, promulgated a weighty four-part encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) in which he synthesized and re-articulated major threads of Catholic moral teaching and aspects of theological jurisprudence and cultural analysis, all underwritten by his own distinctive theological anthropology. In the final and programmatic section of the document, the Polish Pontiff insisted that it is incumbent upon women in a “unique and decisive” way to work in solidarity with each other to explore, articulate and promote “a new feminism” directed at promoting an authentic life-affirming human dignity and relationship.. For Kristeva, the life-world created by these forces tends to exile “motherhood” further, and she argues for a humanism re-founded upon the “more” and residual “sacred” offered by the primordial maternal meaning within women’s experiences.33 Later, reflecting upon her Assisi speech, Julia Kristeva adds to her thoughts a humanist pastoral agenda: “In order that the desires of men and women may be rekindled, Humanism teaches us to take care of them. The existential and cultural problems raised by many post-Christian feminists, from those who defend the significance of bodily/personal substantiality and “difference”, may provide clear-eyed insights for Christian theology When these are considered in interaction with authentic Christian “sources of faith”, the prescience of these contributions for Christian women (and Christian men and institutions) is striking. There are some fragile points of solidarity between Catholic ethics and theology.
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