Catholics for Choice Addresses Holy See Overreach at the 69th UN Commission on the Status of Women
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 17, 2025
Contact: Ashley (Wilson) Hildebrand, Senior Advisor
Email: media@catholicsforchoice.org
Catholics for Choice Addresses Holy See Overreach at the 69th UN Commission on the Status of Women
“Catholics for Choice fears that achieving this goal — among others in the declaration — is impossible with the Holy See as a permanent observer at the United Nations.”
NEW YORK — Today, Catholics for Choice offered an intervention at the 69th Commission on the Status of Women. During this annual session, representatives of UN member states, civil society organizations, and UN entities gather to discuss the advancement of gender equality and women’s rights.
Senior Advisor Manuela Tironi spoke about how the UN’s pursuit these goals are jeopardized by the outsized influence of the Holy See at the UN. The intervention is available online, and the text of her intervention, as prepared for delivery, is below:
“For 50 years, we have supported Catholics globally — and work in partnership with Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir across Latin America — to amplify the voices of those ignored by the church hierarchy.
Today I’m here to say that the Holy See does not speak for Catholics on gender equality and reproductive rights.
“The Beijing Declaration calls on all countries to “ensure the conditions necessary for women to exercise their reproductive rights and eliminate coercive laws and practices.” Catholics for Choice fears that achieving this goal — among others in the declaration — is impossible with the Holy See as a permanent observer at the United Nations.
“The UN should not be granting this high-level diplomatic status to a religious body that is interfering in the progress of already-established goals, and it certainly should not be granted solely to the Vatican. In the United States, the Catholic hierarchy has crusaded against abortion and contraception, even though only 1 in 10 Catholics support its position on abortion and 98% of Catholic women use methods other than church-approved natural family planning.
“This data is just from one country with a foundation of church-state separation — but we know the Vatican has also used its status to block global efforts on family planning in other countries.
“If we are truly to be a body that sets “an agenda for women’s empowerment,” we must acknowledge the disproportionate access we are granting to a religious force that fundamentally opposes women’s empowerment. Catholics for Choice urges the members gathered here to discuss this threat to religious freedom and women’s rights worldwide.”
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Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to a person’s well-being and respect, and affirm the capacity of all people to make moral decisions about their lives.
