The Church and motherhood

I refer to Kenneth Zammit Tabona's article (December 12).

Archbishop Mgr Joseph Mercieca would like to reiterate that his views on the subject of motherhood and women who work outside their family home, according to and in line with the Church's social teaching, are basically the following:

• The distinctive natural bond that exists between mother and child cannot be ignored;

• Society must strive to ensure that the family's collective income permits mothers to have a real choice of whether to work outside the family home or not, especially when they have small children to take care of;

• It is absolutely unacceptable for anyone to look at women who dedicate themselves to their families as if they are second-class and failed citizens;

• What a mother contributes to the family and, through it, to society deserves full attention, appreciation and recognition;

• Society should do its utmost to support effectively the hard work women do in fulfilling their vocation as mothers and in the gestation and upbringing of their children through family-friendly policies;

• The emphasis on the mother's role in the upbringing of children should not overshadow the importance of the father's specific role because their roles are complementary, that is, full attention must be given to the role of men as husbands and fathers, as well as to the responsibility they share with their wives for their marriage, the family and the raising of their children;

• Women have the right to full opportunities and to be able to find and keep their right place in all sectors of society;

• Women should be assured equal opportunities in every sphere of society, from education to the practice of professions and the acquisition of jobs, and that everything should be done to encourage women to develop their talents.

Pope John Paul II's teaching on employment and motherhood is as follows:

"While speaking about employment in reference to the family, it is appropriate to emphasise how important and burdensome is the work women do within the family unit: that work should be acknowledged and deeply appreciated.

"The 'toil' of a woman who, having given birth to a child, nourishes and cares for that child and devotes herself to its upbringing, particularly in the early years, is so great to be comparable to any professional work. This ought to be clearly stated and upheld no less than any other labour right. Motherhood, because of all the hard work it entails, should be recognised as giving the rights to financial benefits at least equal to those of other kinds of work undertaken in order to support the family during such a delicate phase of its life" (Letter To Families, 17).

The Church believes that there must be a social re-evaluation of the mother's role, of the toil connected with it, and of the need that children have for care, love and affection in order that they may develop into responsible, morally and religiously mature and psychologically stable persons. The Church also believes that it will be to the credit of society to make it possible for a mother - without inhibiting her freedom, without psychological or practical discrimination, and without penalising her as compared with other women - to devote herself to taking care of her children and educating them in accordance with their needs, which vary with age.

The Church further believes that having to abandon these tasks in order to take up paid work outside the home is wrong from the point of view of the good of society and of the family when it contradicts or hinders these primary goals of the mission of the mother (Laborem exercens, 91).