How can women of faith join their personal faith convictions with their public involvement within the society? This was the subject treated earlier on this year in an interfaith conference hosted by the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. Indeed its title was "Women and Public Engagement: a Faith Perspective."

The four leading interventions came from Islamic, Jewish, Hindi, and Catholic women scholars. The Catholic Faith was represented by Jane F.

Adolphe, associate professor of Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida, who also works for the Vatican Secretariat of State. Prof.

Adolphe reflected on woman's liberty in society from the Catholic point of view. The main purpose of her intervention was precisely that of speaking about women’s role within the Church by presenting her personal experiences. In so doing she stressed on "the dignity of the vocation of women in the teachings of the Church, because there are so few people who understand where the Church is coming from on this issue."

Prof. Adolphe highlighted particularly on what “Pope John Paul II has said about women, and their ability to humanize all sectors of society." The academic likewise elucidated on how women "are entrusted with the good of the person in a special way, and that's tied to their ability to bear children; so, there's this special love for the person, and spiritual human values." Furthermore Adolphe observed that there are currents deeply embedded in modern society that staunchly oppose the idea of family. Such currents object to the indissolubility of the marriage contract. They believe that the features of that contract can be easily changed when one simply decides to.

"I want to emphasize that the sacrament of marriage in the Catholic faith builds upon that understanding of natural marriage, and that's really angled through some of the elements of that, and that women of faith have a special role in promoting an authentic understanding of marriage because of what's going on in society, where it's really detrimental to children."

With her clear intent of connecting the discussion with the actual Year of Faith, Adolphe tried to address the idea of women of faith within the evangelization, proclamation and dialogue context.

She explained that “the Church has some beautiful teachings and statements of those that are really working in this area in interreligious dialogue on a daily basis. The key point for me is that it's respect for the inherent dignity for each person in one's search for the truth." For Adolphe the fact that women, hailing from diverse faiths and cultures, have participated in such a conference, is already a powerful sign that “there’s a mutual, reciprocal exchange of information and friendship, and getting to know one another – but the core is to seek the truth. And the seeds of the truth in everyone's different traditions, cultures and religions. And that's what we're doing here. I go in and after talking about those principles I hope to

say: 'These are the principles, but I've actually seen these in action.'"

Adolphe lived in a Catholic family in which parents have been married for some 60 years and raised seven children. She said: “I want to show in a practical level what I lived, and then I want to talk a little bit about dialogue in society, and how those principles I've learned in the family, and from Catholic teaching, I've infused into my work.

At the core of my work has been the promotion of universal human dignity. At the core of human rights, it's a really key point for dialogue."

As a Maltese woman do I believe that by living my faith I am greatly contributing to the real progress this society needs?

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap