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In the Europe of the 25, women contribute a “plus” of humanity and culture: convinced of this is Llum Delàs, diocesan delegate for university pastoral care in the archdiocese of Barcelona. What contribution can women make to the new Europe? “Women always contribute their ‘plus’ of humanity to a world conceived and managed almost exclusively by men. Women contribute the fruitfulness of their identity, with all its specificity, to European enlargement. Women with spirit of initiative who are able to manage the running of the home and of the human family. Women who are strong in relation to their own life and that of others. Women who are happy to be such, and who accept their condition as a grace, an opportunity and a vocation. Women like this have so much to give to the construction of the common home. The difficulties increase, and complexities are created in the way we live together. As Europe is enlarged, so women must widen their ability to hold out a generous welcome to the new countries. Women exercise spiritual maternity: the maternity that is able to see and relate to the least of mankind, and to discover their riches, different but compatible. Women, in a Europe that grows, are ready to learn all the languages to transmit the one message of love for life and for culture”. Is there, in your view, a particular female attention? “Women see the new Europe as the result of the plurality and living together of many different communities: what they all have in common is what is most profound. Europe, in feminine thought, is culturally ready to foster its common roots in the consciousness that the aim should be to unify Europe, not make it uniform. We must unify on the basis of mutual respect and by recognizing and fostering each people and tradition. Women know very well that culture has a very important role in their own identity: culture helps us to understand who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. Culture rescues us from the claims of uniformity; it diversifies without separating because it takes account of differences as enrichment and not as a threatening form of competition. To make uniform, on the other hand, is the great temptation of our time. However, idols, such as that of globalization today, have always threatened peaceful co-existence between peoples. European women are in the front line of the struggle against this great modern idol”. Fact file In Spain the unemployment rate of women is around 20%. Over 30% of women workers have managerial posts in the public and private sector. It is calculated that Spanish women work 64 hours per week, both in the office and at home, 24 more than men. The percentage of women with university degrees in Portugal is rather low, 11% while some 90% of youth below the age of 15 dedicate an hour of their leisure time each day to reading. In Holland the percentage of part-time women workers is high, some 73%. A curious statistic: only 8% of Dutch women have recourse to Caesarean birth, the lowest percentage in Europe. In Germany 43% of university students are women, one of the lowest percentages in the EU. Some 60% of women work. Among the new member countries, the Czech Republic has the lowest percentage of women workers, less than 10%. By contrast, the presence of women in politics is growing. Austria, together with Spain, is the nation with the highest percentage of women occupying managerial or executive posts. Austrian women, moreover, are the youngest mothers in the EU with an average age of just over 26. In spite of a law on equality of salaries, women in Slovakia earn less than men. Women in Slovenia are the most exposed to the risk of being sacked in the event of pregnancy. Greece and Italy are the countries where women dedicate less time to artistic activities. In Greece, in particular, 60% of the unemployed are women. Cyprus claims the first women’s bank in Europe; it was founded by 350 women in 2001 with the aim of facilitating women’s projects. The female presence in Parliament is on the increase.
