PRESS RELEASE
Femicide, Pope Loe: “Violence is the line that divides civilization from barbarism”
In “Piazza San Pietro”, the Pope responds to a reader: “Concrete prevention and formation projects to stop femicide”
VATICAN, 8 MAR – The March issue of Piazza San Pietro, the magazine published by the Vatican Basilica and edited by Father Enzo Fortunato, is dedicated to women. It is an edition packed with content – from an exclusive interview with Liliana Segre, “In Auschwitz, I saw women against women”, to Easter rituals around the world, to Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming visits in Italy – but its most intense focus is in the “Dialogue with readers” section.
The opening feature is a heartfelt letter addressed to the Pontiff by Giovanna, a reader from Rome, who implores: “Pope Leo, help us to stop violence against women. No more femicides”.
The woman, who confesses to having “eyes filled with tears” from crying over so much unjustified suffering inflicted on women, lives with a respectful and loving husband. But her privilege immediately becomes a question: why should being loved be an exception? Why does love turn into a death trap for so many women? Giovanna recounts the turmoil that assails her with every new case of femicide, a phenomenon that cuts across social classes and generations, and denounces the “culture of possession” that considers women to be property, to the point of justifying their elimination if they decide to leave.
Her appeal extends to the invisible children of these tragedies: children who often witness the killing of their mother and who are orphaned twice over, victims of a pain that the State, she writes, does not support enough. Hence her appeal to the Pope: only an educational alliance between the Church and schools can truly influence the formation of consciences, especially those of the youngest. “Who else”, she asks, “can spread a culture of respect and freedom, capable of overcoming social, cultural and religious barriers?”.
Pope Leo XIV’s answer is clear and deeply pastoral. The Pontiff confesses that violence in relationships, and in particular violence against women, is a source of great suffering for him. He recalls the “feminine genius” evoked by Saint John Paul II, emphasizing how women are protagonists of a culture of care, fraternity and hope. Precisely for this reason, he observes, they sometimes become the target of a mentality that fears the values they embody: freedom, equality, generativity, and justice.
“Violence, any violence, is the line that divides civilization from barbarism”, writes the Pope, also recalling what he said on the Solemnity of Pentecost and on the International Day Against Violence Against Women. No mitigating circumstances, no justification can be tolerated. Every act of violence must be denounced, just as the cultural climate that minimises or denies responsibility must be exposed.
But the Pontiff does not stop at condemnation. He welcomes Giovanna’s appeal for the urgent need for an educational alliance: the Church, families, schools, parishes, movements and public institutions must work together to implement “specific prevention and training projects”. The path indicated is clear: to educate young people to respect the dignity of every person, man and woman, to open hearts to a culture of peace, to eradicate the mentality of domination.
In closing, Pope Leo XIV promises prayer and blessing, transforming a private letter into a universal message. Letters that are, says Father Fortunato, a caress to the heart and guidance to a society that is lost and disoriented.
The letter
POPE LEO, HELP US TO STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. NO MORE FEMICIDES. POPE LEO XIV REPLIES
Your Holiness,
I am a “lucky” woman, because I have a good, respectful and loving husband. But as I write these words to you, I confess that my eyes are filling with tears. Why, today, does being loved and respected have to be a privilege afforded only to some women? Why is loving a man, marrying him or deciding to live with him, to start a family, transformed into a death trap for so many women? How can we explain the all too frequent and painful violence that so many men use against the women they claim to love? To the point of killing them. Brutally, with hatred, as if they were guilty of no longer loving them. It happens too often. We are all shocked by these tragedies, but what concrete action are we taking to remedy the situation? These are the questions I ask myself every time I hear about a new case of femicide. It is an unstoppable phenomenon that cuts across society as a whole, without social or generational distinction. From lawyers to labourers, from doctors to waiters, from mature men to young graduates. What can we do and what are we doing to stem this culture of possession, this idea that if a woman is no longer mine, she deserves to die? I appeal to you also with those invisible creatures in mind, whom we think about too little. Those orphaned children who have so often witnessed the murder of their beloved mothers. Perhaps while trying to protect them. Children for whom even the state, in my humble opinion, does too little. I appeal to you because I believe that only by working from the bottom up on the culture and education of young people can we help to create respect for the opposite sex and for others in a broader sense. For those who are different from us. I believe that the Church and schools have great potential and a great responsibility for the education of the younger generation, and even for those young people who grow up in difficult environments and who do not have adequate role models. Who else, if not the School and the Church, can help the new generations to spread a culture of respect, love, and above all, freedom? A message that teaches not to consider women as objects to be possessed. To never use violence against the freedom of others, of women who choose their own destiny, even if this no longer includes me. Schools speak to young people, but only the Church and its message, Holy Father, can reach families and overcome social, cultural and even religious barriers. It can reach directly to the hearts of the faithful, but even to those who do not believe, because the word of Your Holiness has universal power.
Giovanna from Rome
POPE LEO XIV REPLIES
TO STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, WE MUST IMPLEMENT SPECIFIC PREVENTION AND FORMATION PROGRAMMES
Giovanna,
You raise a serious issue that is always a source of great suffering for me: violence in relationships, and in particular violence against women. In a world often dominated by violent thinking, we should support the feminine genius even more, as Saint John Paul II said, the “genius of women”, protagonists and creators of a culture of care and fraternity that is indispensable for giving a future and dignity to all humanity. Perhaps this is also why women are attacked and killed: because they are a sign of contradiction in this confused, uncertain and violent society, because they point us towards values of faith, freedom, equality, generativity, hope, solidarity and justice. These are great values, which are instead fought against by a dangerous mentality that plagues relationships, producing only selfishness, prejudice, discrimination and a desire for domination. This attitude, as I said during my homily on the Solemnity of Pentecost (8 June 2025) during the Holy Mass of the Jubilee of Movements, Associations and New Communities, “an attitude that often leads to violence, as is shown, tragically, by numerous recent cases of femicide”. Violence, any violence, is the line that divides civilization from barbarism. We must never underestimate an act of violence, and we must not be afraid to denounce violence, including the climate of justification that mitigates or denies responsibility. Walking together in mutual respect for our humanity is not a dream, but the only possible reality for building a world of light for all. Dear Giovanna, I thank you for your reminders about the need for an ever stronger educational alliance. The Church, together with families, schools, parishes, movements and associations, religious congregations and public institutions, can share the urgency of implementing specific projects to prevent and stop violence against women. As I said on 25 November, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, “to stop violence, we must begin with the education of young people, begin to open our hearts to say that every person is a human being who deserves respect, that dignity for men and women, for everyone”. And then I added: “We must eliminate this violence and find ways to shape mindsets; we must be people of peace who love everyone”. Thank you, Giovanna, for your letter. I will pray for you, your family and your loved ones, and I accompany you all with my blessing.
