Let us be drawn to hope! 

Dear WUCWO friends, 

there is no doubt that time flies and, almost without realising it, the year is almost over. A year undoubtedly with many challenges, but also with great achievements for which we must give thanks to the Lord. As Church, the final document of the Synodal Assembly, which gathers the fruit of 3 years of work, is, as Pope Francis says, a gift for all the People of God and for the world. The Jubilee year, which is about to begin, is undoubtedly another great gift for the Church.

WUCWO also has much to be grateful for: the fruits of our School for Synodality, which has allowed us to walk together with the whole Church in this process of prayer, dialogue and discernment; the "WUCWO Planting Hope" campaign, in which so many people around the world have participated by planting one or more trees to contribute to the environment; the work to prevent and stop violence and discrimination against women, especially that which we carry out in Africa through our World Women's Observatory (WWO); the work in favour of migrants and refugees, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean; the recently launched "Device Free Family Meals" campaign to promote communication in the family; our active participation in international organisations; the informative and training work carried out through our social networks, magazine and newsletter; our work for women's leadership and participation in the Church and in society and, above all, the work of our more than 8 million women around the world showing others, especially those most in need, the loving face of Jesus.

On the other hand, in addition to giving thanks, we are now preparing to receive Baby Jesus again. It fills us with confidence and hope to know that the Lord was born for us. As the Pope tells us: “The message of Bethlehem is indeed “good news of great joy” (Lk 2:10). (…) Not the passing happiness of this world, not the glee of entertainment but a joy that is “great” because it makes us great. For today, all of us, with all our shortcomings, embrace the sure promise of an unprecedented gift: the hope of being born for heaven. Yes Jesus our brother has come to make his Father our Father; a small child, he reveals to us the tender love of God and (…) gives us “power to become children of God. This is the joy that consoles hearts, renews hope and bestows peace. It is the joy of the Holy Spirit: the joy born of being God’s beloved sons and daughters”. (Urbi et Orbi message 2023).

This is why we can fully understand the Holy Father when he then makes the following appeal to us: “Rejoice, you who have lost confidence in your certitudes, for you are not alone: Christ is born for you! Rejoice, you who have abandoned all hope, for God offers you his outstretched hand; he does not point a finger at you, but offers you his little baby hand, in order to set you free from your fears, to relieve you of your burdens and to show you that, in his eyes, you are more valuable than anything else”.

Finally, along with the arrival of Christmas, on 24 December the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican will be opened, thus beginning the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025, summoned by Pope Francis through his Bull Spes non confundit  (Hope does not dissapoint). Hope is the central message of this forthcoming Jubilee, which, according to an ancient tradition, the Pope calls every twenty-five years.

The coming Jubilee will therefore be a Holy Year characterised by hope that does not fade, hope in God who shows us anew his boundless mercy. Let us ask the Lord that this Jubilee may also help us to regain, both in the Church and in society, the necessary confidence in interpersonal bonds, in international relations, in the promotion of the dignity of every person and in respect for creation.

I invite each one of you, with your own charism and according to your circumstances, to be co-responsible, so that in the year that is about to begin, the multiple signs of hope may bear witness to God's presence in the world. Let us offer signs of hope to the sick who are in bed or in hospitals; to migrants who are looking for a safe place to live; to prisoners; to women who are victims of violence; to young people who are disoriented in a world that seems to offer them no guarantee of a dignified future; to the millions of people who are devastated by war; to those who have lost their faith and are wandering aimlessly; to those who are afraid to start a family; to those who are hungry...

As the Pope exhorts us: "May the witness of believers be for our world a leaven of authentic hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth, where men and women will dwell in justice and harmony". Let us even now be drawn to this hope! Through our witness, may hope spread to all those who anxiously seek it (Spes non confundit).

With this encouraging outlook, I greet you, wishing you, your families and the members of your organisations a Christmas filled with the love, joy, peace and hope that Baby Jesus came to bring to the world.

Mónica Santamarina

WUCWO President General