Pope Francis is pinning much of his hopes for a more peaceful world in the new year on women, saying violence against them is akin to profaning God and calling for them to be increasingly involved in making major decisions.
In his homily Wednesday in St Peter's Basilica, Francis decried the "many times women's bodies are sacrificed on the profane altar of advertisements, of profit, of pornography".
He also lamented that women are continually offended, beaten, raped, forced into prostitution" or forced to have abortions. The Catholic church forbids abortion.
Francis didn't mention if under his watch things might change in how women are treated in the Catholic church. According to Vatican teaching, women can't become priests. And the top job the papacy has been strictly for males.
He contended that if we want a better world in the new year, we should treat women with dignity.
Francis urged that women become "fully associated" with decision-making in order to make the world more united and at peace.
"And if we want a better world, that is a house of peace and not a courtyard of war, may the dignity of every woman be at the heart of it,'' Francis said. Women are givers and mediators of peace, and should be fully associated with decision-making processes."