Vir baptizatus as the Subject of Ordination of the Diaconate in the Code of Canon Law Seen from a Historical-Legal Perspective

• Published in: Kościół i prawo Vol. 7; no. 2; pp. 79 - 97
• Main Author: Marcin Bider
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: German; Polish
• Published: Towarzystwo Naukowe Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego Jana Pawła II 01.12.2018
• Subjects: chrzest; kapłaństwo kobiet; kapłaństwo ministerialne; kobieta; nieważność święceń; płeć; transseksualizm
• ISSN: 0208-7928; 2544-5804
• DOI: 10.18290/kip.2018.7.2-6

The objective of the article is to present – in accordance with can. 1024 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law – the canonical requirements for valid reception of the diaconate in the theological and legal perspective. In can. 1024, the legislator states that a baptized male alone can be promoted to the diaconate. The Catholic Church does not consider herself as authorized to admit women to priestly ordination, and thus to the episcopate and presbyterate. However, women in the future could be promoted to the diaconate because it does not constitute a degree of participation in the priesthood of Christ. In the future, women could be admitted to receive diaconal ordination in the case of abro­gation or amendment of can. 1024. The author presents arguments from the Bible, the Tradition and the Church’s Magisterium. Theological arguments are presented in a hi­storical perspective. The article examines issues connected with the ordination of dea­conesses, the evaluation of which depends on the results of the research in histori­cal and theological sources. Should a woman or an unbaptized man be admitted to the dia­conate, it would be necessary to declare the nullity of these holy orders.