Violence against women insults God, Pope says in New Year message

Francis makes one of his strongest calls yet for an end to violence against females

Pope Francis during the New Year’s day Holy Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City (EPA)

Pope Francis has used his new year’s message to issue a call for an end to violence against women, saying it was insulting to God.

Francis, 85, celebrated a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, appearing to be in good form following an unexplained incident on New Year’s Eve when he attended a service but at the last minute did not preside over it, as he had been expected to.

The pontiff wove his new-year homily around the themes of motherhood and women, saying it was they who kept together the threads of life, and used it to make one of his strongest calls yet for an end to violence against them.

“And since mothers bestow life, and women keep the world (together), let us all make greater efforts to promote mothers and to protect women,” Francis said.

“How much violence is directed against women! Enough! To hurt a woman is to insult God, who from a woman took on our humanity.”

During an Italian television programme last month, the Pope told a woman who had been beaten by her ex-husband that men who commit violence against women engage in something that is “almost satanic”.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began nearly two years ago, Francis has several times spoken out against domestic violence, which has increased in many countries since lockdowns left many women trapped with their abusers.

Public participation at the mass was lower than in some past years because of Covid restrictions. Italy, which surrounds Vatican City, reported a record 144,243 coronavirus-related cases on Friday and has recently imposed new measures such as an obligation to wear masks outdoors.