The Position of the Woman in the Church

Abstract

In this article, some considerations about the position of women in Catholic Canon Law will be presented. The Catholic Church has a positive view of women and her dignity, as she has in regard to men. This view is grounded in the Christian view of human nature with its clear awareness of the fundamental dignity of the human person. Consequently, men and women have equal rights in Church law. Although the Church has always affirmed the equality of men and women in her fundamental principles, the steadily increasing recognition of the equality of rights taking place in canon law must be shown, which is done through noting the development of rights that has taken place between the 1917 Codex and the current 1983 Codex. Alongside the equal rights of men and women, Christian Anthropology also recognizes gender difference, which shows itself in the manner in which the tasks of men and women are performed. In this sense, woman has a specifically feminine way to carry out her tasks in the family, community and Church, which signifies a great potential for the Church.