Pope warns against equating differences between sexes

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Vatican, Oct 8, 2017: Societies must find a way to overcome the subjugation of women, pretending there are no differences between men and women or even using technology to change a person’s sex is not the answer, Pope Francis said.

Using science "to radically eliminate any difference between the sexes, and, as a result, the covenant between man and woman, is not right," the pope said Oct. 5, opening the Pontifical Academy for Life’s general assembly.

"The biological and psychological manipulation of sexual difference, which biomedical technology now presents as a simple matter of personal choice — which it is not — risks eliminating the source of energy that nourishes the covenant between man and woman and makes it creative and fruitful," the pope said.

Although real scientific and technological progress should "inspire more humane policies," the pope said that men, women and children today suffer "with bitterness and sorrow from the false promises of technocratic materialism."

Relationships are essential, he said, noting that God entrusted "creation and history to the covenant between man and woman," which is seen especially in marriage and the transmission of new life.

But the partnership between men and women goes beyond individual families, he said. "It is an invitation to become responsible for the world, in culture and politics, in the world of work and in the economy, and in the church as well."

Meeting new challenges "is not simply about equal opportunity or mutual recognition," he said. "Man and woman are called on not only to speak about love, but to speak to each other, with love, about what they must do to ensure that our lives together can be lived in the light of God’s love for every creature."