International Women’s Day was on Sunday 8 March. As we pray for a world where so many people are living under the shadow and threat of violence, we join Pope Leo XIV in recognising both the particular threat to women in times of conflict and war, and the unique contribution women make to a peaceful and productive society.

‘[Women] are a sign of contradiction in this confused, uncertain and violent society, because they indicate values of faith, freedom, equality, generativity, hope, solidarity, justice… Violence, any violence, is the frontier that divides civilisation from barbarism.’ – Pope Leo XIV, Piazza San Pietro Magazine, March 2026