GENDER JUSTICE AS AN IMPETUS TO RENEWAL OF MORAL THEOLOGY

Authors

  • Prem Xalxo Gregorian University in Rome

Keywords:

Human Dignity, Gender Equality, Justice, Solidarity, Gender-based Discrimination

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a steep rise in the incidences of violence, atrocities and discrimination against women in India giving rise to heated debates on the issues of justice and equality in socio-cultural and religious ambit. The horrific stories of treating women as mere sex objects in some countries marred by war, conflicts and terrorism are raising still more serious questions regarding justice and human dignity. Contrary to some apprehensions regarding gender agenda as being focused on the destruction of sexes or of their duality or that of the two-parent family structure of mother and father, the debate on gender justice underlines the necessity of promoting equality between both sexes by eliminating deep-rooted bias, injustice and discrimination against women. Treating both men and women as created in the “image and likeness” of God (Gen 1:26) and giving equal importance to both sexes in socio-cultural and moral spheres could be an impetus to the renewal of moral theology in the light of the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

Author Biography

Prem Xalxo, Gregorian University in Rome

Rev. Dr Prem Xalxo, SJ, is lecturer in moral theology at the Gregorian University in Rome. He had his Licentiate in moral theology from Alphonsianum, Rome and Doctorate in moral theology from the Gregorian University. His doctoral thesis, Complementarity of Human Life and Other Life Forms in Nature, was published in 2007 from Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana, Rome. A revised version of it, Current Ecological Crisis and Its Moral Dimension, was published in 2008 by Xavier Publications, Ranchi.

References

Francis, Impromptu Speech of the Holy Father to Young People in Manila (18 January 2015).

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/january/documents/ papa-francesco_20150118_srilanka-filippine-incontro-giovani.html (25/01/2015).

Madhu Bazaz Wangu, Images of Indian Goddesses, New Delhi: Abhinav Prakashan, 2003.

http://thecommentator.in/2014/08/badaun-rape-case-manifestation-doublediscrimination/ (05/02/2015).

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/7-men-arrested-for-nirbhaya- like-gang-rape-and-murder-80-km-from-delhi-738154?ndtv_alsoread (09/02/2015).

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Minor-girl-raped-murdered-inLonavala-hotel/articleshow/46304597.cms (19/02/2015).

Paul VI, “Message to Women,” in James H. Kroeger, Exlporing the Treasures of Vatican II, Quezon City: Claretian Publications, 2011.

http://www.un-documents.net/a48r104.htm (08/02/2015).

Jessie Bernard, The Female World from a Global Perspective, Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indian University Press, 1987.

James F. Keenan, “Learning to Reason Well: Moral Theology Since Vatican II,” in Anthony J. Cernera, ed., Vatican II: The Continuing Agenda, Fairfield, Connecticut: Sacred Heart University Press, 1997.

Susan Moller Okin, Justice, Gender and the Family, New York: Basic Books Publishers, 1989.

Don H. Zimmerman, “Doing Gender,” in Judith Lorber – Susan A. Farrell, ed., The Social Construction of Gender, Newbury Park (CA): Sage Publications, 1991.

Robert J. Stoller, Presentations of Gender, New Haven – London: Yale University Press, 1985.

Barbara Rogers, The Domestication of Women, London and New York: Tavistock Publications, 1980.

Carol P. MacCormack, “Nature, Culture and Gender: A Critique” in Carol P. MacCormack – Marilyn Strathern, ed., Nature Culture and Gender, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980.

Jessie Bernard, The Female World from a Global Perspective, Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indian University Press, 1987.

Michael O’Sullivan, How Roman Catholic Church can Transform Male Violence Against Women: Explaining the Role of Religion in Shaping Cultural Assumptions About Gender, Lewiston (NY): The Edwin Mellen Press, 2010.

Catholic Bishops Conference of India, Gender Policy of the Catholic Church of India, New Delhi: CBCI Commission for Women, 2010.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile: or On Education, trans. Allan Bloom, New York: Basic Books, 1979.

Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1981.

Michael L. Walzer, Spheres of Justice, New York: Basic Books, 1983.

Richard A. McCormick, “Sefl-Assessment and Self-Indictment,” Religious Studies Review 13 (1987).

Diana L. Hayes, “To Women. If It Wasn’t for the Women: Roman Catholic Church and Their Church,” in Anthony Ciorra – Michael W. Higgins, ed., Vatican II: A Universal Call to Holiness, Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2012, 50. See also Ivy Helman, Women and the Vatican: An Exploration of Official Documents, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2012.

Dolores R. Leckey, Rediscovering Vatican II: The Laity and Christian Education, New York/Mahwah (NJ): Paulist Press, 2006.

Rosemary Goldie, From a Roman Window: Five Decades of the World, the Church and the Laity, Melbourne: HarperCollins, 1998.

Dennis Doyle, The Church Emerging from Vatican II, New London (CT): TwentyThird Publications, 2009.

James H. Kroeger, Exploring the Treasures of Vatican II, Quezon City: Claretian Publications, 2011.

Lars Adam Rehof, Guide to the Travaux Préparatoires of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1993.

Ivy Helman, Women and the Vatican: An Exploration of Official Documents, Maryknoll (NY): Orbis Books, 2012.

Downloads

Published

2015-03-31

How to Cite

Xalxo, P. (2015). GENDER JUSTICE AS AN IMPETUS TO RENEWAL OF MORAL THEOLOGY. Asian Horizons, 9(01), 139–154. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/ah/article/view/2654

Most read articles by the same author(s)