Pope Leo XIV urges equality and calls for an end to feminicide and gender-based violence during International Women’s Day Angelus address.
Newsroom (09/03/2026 Gaudium Press )Marking International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8, Pope Leo XIV delivered a forceful and heartfelt appeal for equality between men and women, urging global action to end feminicide and gender-based violence. Speaking during his Sunday Angelus from St. Peter’s Square, the pope said he wished to express his “solidarity and prayer” for women who endure violence and discrimination from childhood through adulthood.
“Unfortunately, many women, since infancy, are still discriminated against and undergo various forms of violence,” Pope Leo said. He called for “recognition of the equal dignity of men and women,” emphasizing that this equality is central to human and Christian values.
A Gospel Reflection on Respect and Listening
In his Angelus reflection, drawn from the Gospel account of Jesus’s encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, Leo XIV highlighted the dignity and mutual respect at the core of Jesus’s actions. “According to custom, he ought to have simply ignored that Samaritan woman,” the pope noted. “Instead, Jesus speaks with her, listens to her, and shows her respect – without a hidden agenda and without disdain.”
He said this biblical scene offers a modern lesson in empathy and attentiveness, praising those who “lose track of time in order to give attention to the person we are encountering.” Leo observed that, just as Jesus was “nourished by God’s own desire to reach people on the deepest levels,” believers today are called to serve others in their thirst for “truth and justice.”
The Samaritan woman, he said, “becomes the first of many female evangelizers,” whose testimony helped bring faith to her community. Such stories remind Christians, he added, that service rooted in respect transcends divisions of culture, gender, and ethnicity.
“This is not the time for opposition between one church and another, between ‘us’ and ‘them,’” Leo said. “Those who worship God seek to be men and women of peace, who worship him in Spirit and in truth.”
A Personal Response to a Call for Change
Later the same day, Pope Leo responded to a reader’s question in Piazza San Pietro Magazine, published by St. Peter’s Basilica. The reader, Giovanna, asked what could be done at both cultural and ecclesial levels to end violence against women and the tragic rise in feminicides — a persistent issue in Italy and around the world.
In his written reply, Leo described violence in relationships as “a source of great suffering” for him personally and called for greater recognition of what Pope John Paul II once called the “feminine genius.” He said women are “protagonists and creators of an indispensable culture of care and fraternity” and that their contributions are essential to humanity’s future and dignity.
The pope reflected on the broader cultural forces behind violence against women, suggesting that some may target women because they “are a sign of contradiction in this confused, uncertain, and violent society.” Women, he said, embody values “of faith, freedom, equality, generativity, hope, solidarity, and justice” — values threatened by a “dangerous mentality” that fosters discrimination and domination.
“Violence Divides Civilization from Barbarism”
Pope Leo condemned all forms of violence, declaring, “Violence – any violence – is the frontier that divides civilization from barbarism.” He urged vigilance in denouncing not only acts of aggression but also the climate of silence and justification that allows them to persist.
“We must never underestimate an act of violence,” he said. “And we must not be afraid to denounce that climate of justification that seeks to mitigate or deny responsibility.”
He warned that the normalization of abuse corrodes the moral foundations of society and that true peace requires mutual respect “for humanity as a whole.” “To walk together in mutual respect,” Leo said, “is not a dream but the only possible reality for building a world of light for everyone.”
Building an Educational Alliance Against Violence
The pope emphasized that the path forward begins with education. He called for a “stronger educational alliance” that joins families, schools, parishes, religious communities, civic institutions, and the wider public to foster mutual respect and empathy from an early age. The Church, he said, must unite with all social partners to “prevent and stop violence against women.”
“The cycle of violence ends with the education of the young,” he concluded. “We must begin by opening everyone’s hearts to say that every person is a human being who deserves respect… We must remove this violence and find a way to shape the mentality; we must be people of peace who wish the best for everyone.”
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now
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