JAMES
MATHEW PAMPARA
Dharmaram
Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore
Paper Title: “Mercy
as Hermeneutical Principle in Catholic Canon Law: A Critical Analysis of Walter Casper's
Thinking in the Light of Aequitas Canonica, Epikeia and Oikonomia.”
Abstract
Cardinal
Walter Kasper, a prominent Theologian of the Catholic Church from Germany and
the president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity,
and the author of Mercy: The Essence of
the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life, at the invitation of Pope
Francis, addressed the College of Cardinals on 20-21 February 2014, in
preparation for the extra-ordinary Synod scheduled to be held in October 2014
on [T]he Pastoral Challenges of the
Family in the context of Evangelization. This address became the basis for
a very lively discussion in different circles including Catholic Theology and
Canon Law for various reasons of which the most important was perhaps the call
of Kasper to make "mercy as a hermeneutical principle in the interpretation
..." (Walter Kasper, The Gospel of
Mercy, p. 44). This paper analyses 'mercy' in the hermeneutics of law
beginning from the Roman Law and going through the history of Canon Law and in
this pursuit analyses the concepts such as aequitas,
epikeia and iokonomia and
concludes that from the very beginning of legal history, mercy was considered
as a key in the interpretation of law. However, this study also highlights the
fact that mercy cannot replace objectivity and the goal of law, and that
situational ethics or relativism cannot be the ultimate parameter in the art of
interpreting the law in concrete context of the individuals.
Dr James Mathew Pampara CMI, born
on 18 February 1965 in Kerala, a member of CMI Congregation and a Catholic
priest, got ordained on 29 December 1993, 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. Specialized in Medieval Latin (Oxford University, UK) and
Jurisprudence (Rota Romana, Vatican) and is now Associate Professor of Canon
Law and Latin in the Institute of Oriental Canon Law, DVK, Banglaore.