We cannot neglect the difference between men and women with their specific gifts, perceptions and life experiences. This difference can give rise to forms of domination, exclusion and discrimination from which every society, including the Church, needs to be freed. The Bible presents man and woman as partners equal in God’s sight (cf. Gen 5:2); all domination and discrimination based on sex is thus an offence against human dignity. The Bible also presents the difference between the sexes as a mystery constitutive of our humanity, one that cannot be reduced to stereotypes. The relation between man and woman is understood in terms of a vocation to live together in reciprocity and dialogue, in communion and fruitfulness (cf. Gen 1:27-29; 2:21-25) in every area of human experience: living as a couple, work, education and so forth. God has entrusted the earth to the covenant of man and woman.
TheoFonsAt the sources of the faith