E/CN.4/2000/65 page 41 154. In this connection, the Working Group referred to the recent debate in Europe concerning the State’s duty to identify “sects” and to defend citizens and their families against the influence of groups which, under the cover of religion, pursue economic and political ends or attempts to exercise psychological control. The group pointed out that the publication of lists of “sects” and the establishment of observatories monitoring sectarian activities have given rise to controversy, which has even affected certain Catholic movements or communities. The group found that there was a considerable degree of terminological uncertainty with regard to the concepts of “religion”, “church” and “sect”, and from a legal point of view a tendency, instead of seeking a definition, to concentrate on abuses committed under the cover of religion but governed by the law of the country. It was also noted that transparency was noticeably absent in the case of esoteric movements, which were often driven by a Promethean conception of man, whereby creating a religion or a sect very often amounted more pragmatically to a straight power play. 155. The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue said that the Vatican’s objective was not to combat “sects” or “new religious movements”, for instance through defamatory campaigns, but instead to offer training and education to Christians. The Congregation for Catholic Education considers that the proliferation of sects, often in places where the traditional churches have not responded to the population’s need to belong to or be active within a community, is a matter for very careful study, particularly regarding the role the laity could play in assisting the Church. The Congregation emphasized that the Vatican rejected not the “sects” as such, but the methods they used, which were often harmful to human dignity and in the end opposed to human rights. E. Position in relation to women and the family 1. Ordination of women 156. With regard to women and in particular the question of the ordination of women, the Vatican II Council, in its Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, lists forms of discrimination affecting the fundamental rights of the individual, which must be overcome and eliminated because they are contrary to God’s design. The first of those is related to gender. In his “Letter to women” of 29 June 1995, Pope John Paul II mentions the conditioning which, in every time and place, has been an obstacle to the progress of women, so that their dignity has been unacknowledged and their prerogatives misrepresented, while they have often been relegated to the margins of society and even reduced to servitude. The Pope expresses regret in the letter for the objective blame, especially in particular historical contexts, belonging to not just a few members of the Church. He considers that there is an urgent need to achieve real equality in every area where the rights of the individual are concerned. 157. Referring to the history of the Church, the Pope refers to the “genius of women”, saying that from the heart of the Church there have emerged women of the highest calibre, including martyrs, saints and famous mystics, and many responsible for initiatives of extraordinary social importance. With regard to the priestly vocation, the Pope explains: “If Christ - by his free and sovereign choice, clearly attested to by the Gospel and by the Church’s constant tradition, entrusted only to men the task of being an ‘icon’ of his countenance as ‘shepherd’ and ‘bridegroom’ of the Church through the exercise of the