Pope Francis called the fact that men earn more than women for the same type of work “pure scandal,” according to The Washington Post.
The newspaper broke down the pope’s remarks as follows:
In his Wednesday general audience remarks, Francis asked Catholics to consider “the Christian seed of radical equality between men and women” when discussing the reasons behind declining marriage rates around the world, according to Vatican Radio.
He added that Christians should be “more demanding” for “radical equality” by “supporting the right of equal pay for equal work.” Pope Francis continued, “The witness of the social dignity of marriage shall become persuasive, precisely by this way: the way of witness that attracts.”
In 1995, Pope John Paul II also discussed equal pay in a “letter to women,” the newspaper added. In that letter he wrote about “an urgent need to achieve real equality in every area: equal pay for equal work, protection for working mothers, fairness in career advancements, equality of spouses with regard to family rights.”
Earlier in April, Ellen Bravo, the executive director of Family Values @ Work, penned an essay for Fortune discussing how paid leave could help close the gender wage gap. That article can be found here. In August, Fortune’s Shawn Tully wrote a feature about Pope Francis, which can be found here.
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