A Theology And Praxis Of Gender Equality

Lisa Sowle Cahill is the J. Donald Monan, S.J., Professor of Theology and Ethics at Boston College. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She is past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Society of Christian Ethics, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her works include Global Justice, Christology and Christian Ethics (Cambridge, 2013), Theological Bioethics: Justice, Participation, and Change (Georgetown, 2005), Sex, Gender, and Christian Ethics (Cambridge, 1996); and Discipleship, Pacifism, and Just War Theory (Fortress, 1994, now being revised). She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Religious Ethics and the international journal Concilium.

Late Bishop Jonas Thaliath, CMI, the visionary and architect behind today's Dharmaram Campus, describes theology as faith seeking harmony of Life. As we all know harmony is a relational terminology. Harmony becomes a reality when there is integrity and integration of all possible ethical relationships, among God, man and woman, humanity, world and nature. When there is strain in any of these components, harmony is lost, or fades. One of the important duties of theology as well as philosophy is to identify areas where this harmony is lost and in turn to propose alternatives to recover lost harmony and to foster harmony.

For the last few years, there has been growing awareness in theological circles that women are not given their due role in the ethical and socio-political relationships of human existence and hence there is an imbalance and disharmony. As a result there is awareness about gender discrimination that prevails in the Church and in society and as a consequence various initiatives to work towards greater gender equality and equilibrium. In order to respond to this growing awareness, the Faculty of Theology of DVK has decided to invite a woman scholar to deliver the Jonas Endowment Lectures of the academic year 2016-17. Any action towards fostering harmony is possible only when there is awareness about the lack of it and the realisation that by changing patterns of behaviour we can create a better harmonious co-existence between genders. Hence, the theme we selected for this year's lectures goes well in tune with the cherished theological dream of Bishop Jonas, whose memory we try to perpetuate through these lectures.

The six chapters of this book are the edited version of the six lectures Dr. Lisa delivered as Bishop Jonas Endowment Lectures 2016-17 at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram. Dr. Lisa Cahill a seasoned Boston College professor and an expert in the area of gender justice, will contribute substantially to the question of gender consciousness in all spheres of life through the publication this book. I wish wide readability and reception to this book.

It is an honor and a privilege to have been invited to offer the 2016 Bishop Jonas Thaliath, CMI, Endowment Lectures at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Dharmaram College, Bangalore, the lectures on which this book is based. The four years leading up to these lectures have been rich in intercultural learning for me, learning both theological and practical. Thanks to the invitation of Fr. Shaji George Kuchuthara, CMI, I have had since 2013 the opportunity to teach courses on "Theology and Gender Equality" to the Moral Theology Students at Dharmaram College. During these years I have also presented papers at conferences arranged by Fr. Shaji at Dharmaram; as well as at a 2013 national consultation in Mumbai on Living Nirbhaya: Pathways to a Violence Free Church and Society. The latter was organized by Streevani, Pune, in collaboration with Satyashodhak, Indian woman Theologians Forum and Montfort Social Institute, Hyderabad. Finally, I was fortunate and grateful to be invited by Dean Joy Philip Kakkanatu, CMI, to deliver the Endowment Lectures in 2016.

During these years, I have formed wonderful friendships and working relationships with my faculty colleagues at Dharmaram, especially my fellow moral theologians: Fr. Shaji, Fr. Lucose Chamakala, Fr. Paulachan Kochapilly (now the President), and Sr. Vimala Chengimimattam, CMC, who shares with me the blessings and challenges of being a woman in the Catholic Church. I have been warmly welcomed and hosted by those responsible for the governance of Dharmaram College, including Rector Fr. Thomas Aykara, former President Saju Chackalackal, and former Dean Fr. Thomas Kollamparampil.

All of these opportunities have been amazing learning experiences for me! Fr. Shaji works tirelessly and effectively as an ally of women's equality in India, offering a model for the whole Church of what it takes to make progress toward social justice. His efforts to change attitudes about the roles of men and women in the Church and in society operate on many levels simultaneously: the intellectual, theological, educational, and political levels, and that of local parishes and congregations. Fr. Shaji understands and demonstrates in action that progress toward justice happens only when everyone wakes up to the reality of injustice, summoning the imagination and commitment to birth new possibilities, in a spirit of solidarity and hope.

Coming to Bangalore as a North American university theologian, some of my most important learning experiences in India have been with my students at Dharmaram. It is has been not only a privilege but a joy to know these young women and men who are committed to Christ, to the Church, and to the mission of the Christian community in the larger society. Yes, they face many obstacles. But their courage and faith are unceasing. In them I see the work of the Holy Spirit in India, and in the Church after Vatican II. The intelligence, commitment, and critical thinking of these students is on display in this book, which includes the honest and stimulating questions and comments that six designated students gave to the Endowment Lectures. I thank Fr. Joy for modeling the importance of interactive thinking and learning in his selection of these excellent respondents. My lectures and the reactions of these students prompted much audience discussion, some receptive and some raising points of disagreement or further problems to be considered. I hope that readers of this book will follow this example, using the six responses to the lectures as a point of departure for discussion and learning in their own classrooms, parishes, and communities.

All the students I have known at Dharmaram have expanded my understanding of the special situations and challenges they face as emissaries of the gospel, committed to viewing women's and men's worth and roles in light of Galatians 3:28: "there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." I admire their insight, their compassion, and their creativity. May the Spirit of the Lord be with them constantly as they go forth from their studies into the world, in confidence and in hope that the future they envision will soon become a reality!

An Indian feminist theologian whom I first met in Mumbai, Shalini Mulackal, (Vidyajyoti College of Theology, New Delhi) was elected President of the Indian Theological Association in 2016. She attests that she has always received encouragement and support from her colleagues, who are "sensitive and caring" and treat her as an equal. Students have been cooperative, she says, and "it is a joy to share with them."' These words express perfectly my experience at Dharmaram.

The question that guided the Endowment Lectures, and continues to shape this book, is one that I share not only with student and faculty colleagues at Dharmaram, but with Christians everywhere who hold a vision of Church and society in which the dignity of all is respected and protected: How do we make our vision of gender equality a reality? I hope this book will move us closer to some practical answers.

The topics the chapters cover are:

1. Gender stereotypes and how they form our attitudes about "proper" masculine and feminine behavior.

2. The relation between gender inequality and violence, as found even in our Sacred Scriptures.

3. Positive biblical resources for gender equality and change.

4. Roles of women in Catholic tradition past and present, with an emphasis on how religious sisters both have been held to traditional expectations of the "ideal woman," and have found ways to resist those expectations, taking on creative ministries of social justice.

5. New directions in feminist theology, especially in Christology, pneumatology, Trinitarian theology, and moral theology.

6. Practical pathways toward gender equality in Church and society. Where is progress being made? What are some models for change that we can apply to the problem of gender equality?

The quest for gender equality is a challenge for the whole Church and for every society. As a North American theologian, I came to Bangalore to learn more about this challenge and its resolution by sharing different cultural perspectives, experiences, accomplishments, disappointments, and remaining goals. I have learned much. I have much more to learn. Together we go forward!

**Contents and Sample Pages**