Women's Voices In The Church: An Interview with FemCatholic
By Katie Zachok
St. Therese of Lisieux once remarked, “The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother.” Perhaps it goes without saying in thriving Catholic communities, where the feminine genius and pro-life movements are alive and well. Yet, in modern society, where women are consistently pressured to be less of what they are and more of what they are not, trying to share this message can make one feel an awful lot like the “voice of one crying out in the desert” (Matthew 3:3).
FemCatholic is a trailblazing organization that seeks to educate, encourage and empower Catholic women in their journey towards holiness, providing unique insight and perspective on issues within the world and the Church today. FemCatholic’s creator, Samantha Povlock, shares about her mission to help women discover their unrepeatable expressions of the feminine genius.
theYCW: What inspired you to establish FemCatholic?
Povlock: Growing up, I always had a heart for women and identified as a feminist, but also loved my Catholic faith. In college, I began reading the writings of St. Edith Stein and many of the recent Popes and realized my concern for women’s equality was deeply Catholic. After attending the 2016 GIVEN Forum for Catholic women leaders, I decided to take my corporate business background and theology degree into my work with FemCatholic to plan media and events for women around the world.
theYCW: In what ways can FemCatholic support, educate, encourage and empower the modern woman?
Povlock: Too often women feel like Catholic resources and communities are not relevant to their lives. FemCatholic dives into the tough topics and the things everyone is talking about in the media to provide a pro-woman perspective grounded in Catholic values. We have online written and video content, a book club community, conferences and other events.
theYCW: Can you elaborate on your present efforts in the “Paid Leave Campaign” and explain what you hope to achieve through that?
Our team was talking about issues that affect women, and the issue of maternity leave kept coming up. We all know how pro-family the Church is, but also that maternity leave is a particular issue in the United States since it is the only industrialized nation in the world without federally mandated paid leave.
Our journalism team decided to reach out to every diocese in the country to see what their maternity leave policies were and if they were any better than the rest of corporate America. Unfortunately, what we found at the time was only four out of 176 dioceses were offering 12 weeks of fully paid leave. But what surprised us most was what those dioceses had in common–it wasn’t an overabundance of cash, but just the fact that someone locally had raised the need for leave. Seeing that, our team decided we wanted to help raise awareness of that need nationally. Inspired by the words of Pope St. John Paul II in his letter to women, we called our campaign “Building a Civilization of Love.” In just six weeks, we received signatures from people in all 50 states wanting to raise this issue to the US bishops. Our hope was just to call attention to the need for paid leave for women and families. We hope that dioceses will continue to look at Pope St. John Paul II’s words, take them to prayer and begin to progress family policies in their local area and dioceses.
theYCW: How would you describe the importance of recognizing motherhood as part of the feminine genius?
Povlock: As a society right now, we are really wrestling with not only what it means to be human but also what it means to be a man or a woman. Motherhood–whether physical or spiritual–is such an essential part of the female experience and how God chose to reveal Himself in the world. JPII says, “Women should not be penalized for their motherhood,” and we agree! Failing to support women after giving birth is truly a kind of penalty because it’s a scenario that women uniquely have to navigate.
theYCW: Can you provide some statistics regarding the current culture around paid maternity leave?
Povlock: One in four women in America return to work only two weeks after giving birth. Daycares will not even accept babies that are less than six weeks old because they’re not biologically meant to be separated from mom yet! Women who’ve had c-sections aren’t allowed to lift anything or sometimes drive until six to eight weeks postpartum. If you or anyone you know has given birth, it’s easy to understand what a human rights and dignity issue this is that women are going back to work so early.
theYCW: Where can readers discover more about FemCatholic, and how can they get involved in your ministry?
Povlock: Join our weekly newsletter “The Insight'' for commentary on current events from a Pro-woman Catholic perspective (see: FemCatholic.com/insight). There you can also see our written and video content, join our FemCatholic book club community, and stay informed about our next conference!
For more statistics regarding maternity leave, search “maternity leave” on FemCatholic.com.
