A female face” “

Europe – the mythical Europa – was in origin a woman: mythology provides us with eloquent images of the birth of Europe, a birth profoundly marked by a feminine identity ever since the beginning. The current policies being implemented ought never to lose sight of this identity that confers on the European Union a quite particular character. To make the European Union a dynamic organization, and a champion of equal opportunities and solidarity, the first hurdle that needs to be cleared in just that of the representation of women. Through the media, we have the impression that the construction of Europe is a male invention. Female faces are scarce. Women form part of Europe, but there are only few in the front line in the public sphere. Women, just like religions, are not an appendix to be integrated in the Union because it is politically correct to do so: they form an integral and essential part of it. A special appeal needs to be made to the young women of Europe to encourage them to form a public part of the construction and enlargement of the Union. Europe has a need for women if she is to remain faithful to herself. She had a need for women to become protagonists of the process now underway. Article 23 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the EU establishes that “the parity between men and women must be ensured in all fields, including employment, work and earnings”. This principle of equality does not prevent the adoption of measures that provide specific advantages in favour of the under-represented sex. The acknowledgement of this under-representation is positive because it implies a willingness to adopt measures to eliminate it. But words, in the construction of Europe, only acquire their full sense when they are translated into actions. Parity, liberty, equality or solidarity are values enunciated in the Charter of rights. Women have the task of implementing them, of turning them into a reality. European women must gain an awareness of their role in the construction and enlargement of this common project. A first task is that of being there. And the second is that of involving others to form part of it. The capacity to encourage people to form part of a common project, to invite all sides of society to play their part, and to mediate between them, is one of the female qualities most necessary for Europe today. We need to design a Europe enriched with more voices and colours, a Europe of equal opportunities and representative of all its richness and variety. On the other hand, Europe is having difficulty coming to terms with immigration which is also a female phenomenon: half of all immigrants are women. Catherine Withol, of the National Research Council in Paris, declares that this new phenomenon involves an evolution of attitudes, a decline in the birth rate and the growing traffic in women. In response to this situation, the Churches have the responsibility to provide a welcome to immigrant women in parish communities, and also to provide them with the necessary support in their struggle against exploitation. The Europe we are constructing has three co-patrons among female saints: St. Brigid of Sweden, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Teresa Benedetta of the Cross, better known as Edith Stein. Of these, Edith Stein embodies the link between the tragedy and the hope of the European continent. The Pope declared her European co-patron of Europe on 1st October 1999. In doing so he affirmed that this declaration was a way of extending the respect, tolerance and hospitality that invite men and women to accept each other beyond all differences of race, culture or religion. The shadows that sometimes appear on the land of Europe will be dispersed only by the “active” respect for difference, brilliantly embodied by this extraordinary woman. Europe and women form an inseparable and potentially very fruitful duality. It needs to be reinforced, not only nominally, but with real actions, projects and resources.