Intervention of Sister Clauda Achaya NADDAF, Superior of the Convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd (SYRIA), auditor

Introduction:
Half of the population of the earth are women. Almost half of these women are the victims of violence and exploitation, and live in extreme poverty, their rights are scorned. Our Mother Church is mother following in the example of Mary. Could she take these concerns away from women? In the working instrument, there is no mention of problems concerning women, in a Synod for the Middle East where women are second class.I would like the Synod to provide propositions that could help in the implementation of the international conventions in favor of women in Arab countries.
The religious women in Syria take on important tasks in the social, educational and pastoral domains, in other places they are marginalized at the level of dioceses and parishes.
We suggest:
- Actively engaging religious women in diocesan and parish councils.
- Supporting them in their pastoral activities.
- Taking advantage of their competence in the catechetical domain, and contributing to their permanent formation on the pastoral, spiritual and technical level: formation sessions, recycling...
- Creating a place for the pastoral care of vocations, where the clergy and religious persons invest in the youth movements.

[00161-02.04] [UD021] [Original text: French]