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​What is the Feminine 'Genius?'​

Published on April 2, 2026

In the short final section of Mulieris Dignitatem, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote what I call the “thanksgiving paragraph.” My reading of it initially was similar to my reaction to Part V. “Some of my best friends are women, truly. And I am so grateful to women for being there for the Church.”

And even though I personally believe that all of this late, great pope’s writings were divinely inspired, it’s hard for me as a writer to see past the bureaucrat-ese. Is it possible this was simply his secretary, crafting a fitting end to a powerful apostolic exhortation?

“The Church gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine “genius” which have appeared in the course of history, in the midst of all peoples and nations; she gives thanks for all the charisms which the Holy Spirit distributes to women in the history of the People of God, for all the victories which she owes to their faith, hope and charity: she gives thanks for all the fruits of feminine holiness” (MD 31).

Was it really just a throwaway line?

Perhaps at the time. Or perhaps not.

In the decades after it was written, women across the world have latched onto this phrase, “feminine genius,” and written, discussed, and amplified its meaning.

And the great saint himself must have been aware of this. In his Letter to Women written in 1995, he uses the terms “feminine genius” and “genius of women” seven times in a much shorter essay. He was in the midst of an ideological skirmish with the United Nations over whether abortion should be considered a “universal right” of women. (Spoiler alert: to this day, no single legally binding U.N. treaty explicitly calls abortion a universal right.)

The phrase “feminine genius” should never be limited by the rhetoric of the abortion issue. The “feminine genius” is about more than sex. Perhaps it is a testimony to gender differences that men struggle to understand the “feminine genius” outside of sexual differences.

Much has been written trying to explain it further, but our larger culture seems oblivious to the term. The refusal of the Catholic Church to support abortion on demand or women’s ordination challenges many advocates of women’s “rights.”

When we talk about the genius of women consisting of receptivity that defies categories, they see dangerous capitulation to “patriarchy.” When we proclaim the great value of spiritual maternity, they point to caregiving and emotional support as “unpaid work.” When we laud the lives of women who defied cultural norms to support persons who are vulnerable, they ask why we exclude support for homosexuality or divorce.

We are talking past one another.

Is the “feminine genius” a philosophy that explains the power of the Church? Or is it simply the lived experience of women?

The Blessed Virgin Mary herself would likely have been baffled if someone asked her during her life on earth to explain herself.

In her Fiat at the Annunciation, she simply said, “Yes.” Confronted by the prophecy of Simeon, she pondered quietly in her heart. At the wedding at Cana, she told the servants to “do whatever He tells you to do.” Along the Via Dolorosa, she met Jesus’ gaze with tears and trudged along in His wake. When they laid His dead body in her arms, she wept. No one saw the Resurrection coming, and certainly no one can explain the way that her life and witness have today become a fountain of graces from the Holy Spirit.

No, we cannot explain ourselves as women, nor as icons of the Church. But to the Church, we say with Mary, “You’re welcome. And all women are welcome. We choose to serve.”

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