James Mathew Pampara CMI

Paper: Fundamental Rights and Duties of Women in the Catholic Church: A Comparative Study of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches and the Code of Canon Law

Abstract

Pope John Paul II, through his apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994) taught in a definitive manner that the Catholic Church is unable to ordain women to priesthood. However, that document did not address the question whether women could be ordained as deacons in the Catholic Church. Recently, Pope Francis, while answering the questions during the final session of the Union of International Superiors' General's (UISG) meeting held in Rome in May 2016, said that he would like to study through the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith whether there could be ordained deaconesses in the Catholic Church. This answer has created a renewed interest among many within and outside the Catholic Church to look into the Canon Law of the Catholic Church to see the place and role of women in it.

The Code of Canon Law (1983) of the Latin Church and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (1990), the two law books of the Catholic Church, have clearly articulated the fundamental rights and duties of every Christian faithful in the Catholic Church. In these codes of canon law, there is a clear and evident departure from the pre-conciliar understanding that women were not equal to men. This study tries to analyse more closely and critically the place and role of women in the Catholic Church, examining the long way in her understanding of the fundamental rights of women and the post-Vatican II reform of her canon law; now the Church places women on par with men regarding the fundamental rights and duties.

James Mathew Pampara CMI is Associate Professor of Canon Law and Latin in the Institute of Oriental Canon Law, DVK, Banglaore and the Head of the Department of Latin Studies in Dharmaram Institute of Languages (DIL). After having completed degrees in Philosophy, Science (BSc Zoology) and Theology with first rank, took Licentiate (1997) and Doctorate (2007) in Oriental Canon Law from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome with specialization in Penal Law and Penal Procedure. He has also specialized in Medieval Latin (Oxford University, UK) and Jurisprudence (Rota Romana, Vatican). He was the Postulator General of the CMI Congregation (2004-2007), the Director of the Institute of Oriental Canon Law (2009-2012) and the Vice President of the Oriental Canon Law Society of India (2010-2013) and he continues to be a member of OCLSI executive committee.