New Delhi: The Gender Desk of Caritas India has welcomed Pope Francis’ unprecedented order that temporarily allows priests to forgive women who have undergone an abortion and profoundly regret the procedure.
M Shimray, assistant head of the department of the desk, says the Pope’s “noble” decision affirms Caritas mandate to value human life.
Caritas India is the social arm wing of the Catholic bishops in the country.
On August 1, Pope Francis announced that priests around the world will be authorized to forgive the “sin of abortion” when the Church begins a “Year of Mercy” this December.
“The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented,” the Pope said, adding that he has met “many women” scarred by the “agonizing and painful” decision to have an abortion.
Francis’ announcement will give all priests full authority to absolve Catholics contrite about their role in a procedure that the Church considers a grave “moral evil.” Priests in some countries already have that power, but Vatican officials portrayed Tuesday’s announcement as “a widening of the Church’s mercy.”
The Caritas India official termed the papal pronouncement as “realistic.”
A child is flesh and blood of a woman and if a drastic decision of abortion is taken, it may be in the context where ‘mother’s life may be in danger’ or “an incorrect decision taken under much social and economic pressure,” Shimray said.
The decision to become single mother in the west may come quicker than in developing countries like India where economic independence to women is still largely deficit.
“Many might call Pope Francis a radical but his sensitiveness to women issues is in real sense indicator of ‘empowerment to women,” Shimray added.
She however warned that this should not be misunderstood for “promotion to practice of abortion.”
Shimray has been leading on fronts of women and gender issues at Caritas India for long and holds 15 years’ experience of advocating for the rights of tribal women domestic workers in Delhi city and human trafficking across India.
Caritas India set up a Women’s Desk in 1985 to ensure women and men are respected and valued in society and mainstream gender perspectives in its structure, policy and intervention.
It also aims to possess institutional capacity in terms of knowhow, attitudes and structure to carry out gender mainstreaming in Caritas and among the partners and collaborators.
The desk was upgraded as Gender Department in 2005 with a three-member team. In 1990s Caritas India began to introduce gender perspectives in programs and capacity building of the partners. This led to the department becoming part of Partners Support Department to facilitate mainstreaming gender perspectives in all Caritas interventions.
The department has encouraged the country’s 171 dioceses to appoint women as gender coordinators and intervene when women face problems at grassroots level.
For Caritas gender is not synonym of women. Instead it is power relationships between men and women. Therefore, gender issues are not the same as women’s issues but how women and men deal with each other.
However the focus often goes to women because they have unequal access to resources and in decision making and suffer discriminations. The department tries to sensitize men about women’s condition in India.
The department has taken up several initiatives at the national level such as organizing women through Mahila Mandals (women’s groups) and self-help groups at the grassroots.