With the gender theory, "we risk taking a step backwards." Francis made this statement in St. Peter's Square at this morning's General Audience, dedicated, along with the next catechesis, to the difference and complementarity between man and woman. The following two catechesis will be on marriage.
"I wonder if the so-called gender theory is not even an expression of frustration and resignation that aims to eliminate sexual difference because some people can no longer deal with it," the Pope continued, stressing that "the elimination of the difference, in fact, is the problem, not the solution." To solve their relational problems, man and woman "should instead talk more together, listen more to one another, get to know each other better, and love one another more. They must treat each other with respect and cooperate in friendship."
Not only are man and woman, individually, the image of God, but also as "man and woman, as a couple." "The difference between man and woman is not for opposition or subordination, but for communion and creation, always in the image and likeness of God."
"Experience teaches us this: in order to know one another well and to grow harmoniously, human beings need this reciprocity between man and woman. When this does not happen, the consequences are visible. We are made to listen to each other and to help one another. We can say that without the reciprocal enrichment in this relation, in thought and action, in affection and work, and in the faith as well, the two—concluded the Pope—cannot even fully understand what it means to be a man and woman."

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