In “The Supreme Vocation of Women: According to St. John Paul II” Melissa Maleski lucidly synthesizes Catholic teaching on the role and dignity of women and refutes the widespread misconception that the Catholic Church disfavors or minimizes the role of women.
“The Supreme Vocation of Women” draws its inspiration from an overlooked yet unprecedented statement made by Pope John Paul II shortly before his death in 2005. Having propelled the Church into a new era of fruitful contemplation about the dignity and value of women, the pontiff summarized his decades of teaching on the topic with: “To you, women, falls the task of being sentinels of the Invisible!”
Maleski shows how this final bold admonition succinctly embodies the Church’s vision of women as powerful, vital agents for good. Drawing not only on the works of John Paul II and the Church Fathers but also on the example of scores of holy women, “The Supreme Vocation of Women” offers profound and practical insights into the fundamental strengths and habits that distinguish womanhood as a particular way of being human. In straightforward, engaging prose, Maleski explains the following:
- How women uniquely reveal the image of God
- The full truth about the vital place of womanhood in the Church and in the world
- What the phrase “Sentinels of the Invisible” means and why it’s so important
- Why the devil fears and hates women—and how he tries to cause them unrest
- Why any imbalance of power between the sexes is contrary to God’s plan
Equipped with these bracing, universal truths of the Church, readers will be equipped to counter secular culture’s distorted views of personhood, the human body, gender, sexuality, and the profound complementarity of men and women. In doing so, they will be empowered to reveal that the Church treasures and understands the dignity of women more completely than any secular institution.
