Mulieris dignitatem

[1] Mulieris dignitatem defends the equality of women, the vocation to love, the mutual submission of husbands and wives, the on-going impact of Original Sin on male/female relationships, Jesus's modeling of how to treat women, the significance of Jesus's mother for today's Christians, and the nature of the relationship between Christ and His Church including the role of the Eucharist as expressing the total self-gift of Christ and making possible the reciprocal total self-gift of the recipient.

[2] He then goes on to say that the dignity of the human person is rooted theologically in his/her creation in the image and likeness of God and their redemption through the Son, the Eternal Word made flesh.

"Therefore when we read in the biblical description the words addressed to the woman: "Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you" (Gen 3:16), we discover a break and a constant threat precisely in regard to this "unity of the two" which corresponds to the dignity of the image and likeness of God in both of them.".

[7] The letter also defends the doctrine of the all-male priesthood: In calling only men as his Apostles, Christ acted in a completely free and sovereign manner.

In doing so, he exercised the same freedom with which, in all his behaviour, he emphasized the dignity and the vocation of women, without conforming to the prevailing customs and to the traditions sanctioned by the legislation of the time.