ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Pope denounces violence against women as Italy searches soul over murder


Conceptually Similar Documents







Pope Francis applauds while he remembers late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who died a year ago on Dec. 31, 2022, as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Conceptually Similar Documents Pope Francis applauds while he remembers late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who died a year ago on Dec. 31, 2022, as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Share
VATICAN CITY, -

Pope Francis on Monday denounced violence against women, speaking as Italy is in the midst of national soul-searching about how to shed an entrenched culture of male chauvinism that often has led to femicide.

Francis has made numerous appeals for an end to violence against women in the past. But his words on Monday were the first in a speech since Italy was angered by the brutal killing of 22-year-old university student Giulia Cecchettin in November.

The killing sparked protests around the country and led to calls that teaching respect for girls become part of school programs beginning at kindergarten level.

"Every society needs to accept the gift that is woman, every woman: to respect, defend and esteem women, in the knowledge that whosoever harms a single woman profanes God, who was born of a woman," he said.

Italian lawmakers unanimously backed a raft of measures to clamp down on violence against women after the killing reopened a national debate on the subject.

Her ex-boyfriend has confessed to the killing, his lawyer has told reporters.

According to Italy's interior ministry, more than 100 women were killed in 2023, about half of them by their partner or former partner. Femicide has become a common word in newspaper headlines.

The outrage over Cecchettin's killing coincided with the box office success of a film titled "C'e Ancora Domani" (There's Still Tomorrow), which tells the story of a woman beaten by her husband.

Set in Rome just after the Second World War, when women won the right to vote, the film is now being used as a teaching tool in schools throughout the country.

The pope made his comments in a homily of a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on the day the Roman Catholic Church marks the Solemnity of Mary Most Holy Mother of God, which is also the Church's World Day of Peace.

Francis said women had a crucial role in being models for peace.

"The world, too, needs to look to mothers and to women in order to find peace, to emerge from the spiral of violence and hatred, and once more see things with genuinely human eyes and hearts," he said.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella;Editing by Alison Williams)

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.

Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.

Local Spotlight

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.