George Nedungatt

George Nedungatt is a Jesuit Canonical Theologian from India.

Early Life

George was born on 21 December 1932 at Peringuzha near Muvattupuzha in Kerala, India, the second son of Mr. Kunjupappa and Mrs. Mariam. He has three brothers. As a student at school his neighbours and schoolmates knew him as a very mature boy. He was assigned to read the epistle at Sunday Mass and teach catechism at Sunday school in the parish. He organised the Marian Sodality in his parish (Kalloorkad), and equipped it with a library, mostly with books collected from houses. In studies and in art he had proved his mettle. He was known for his piety, sportsmanship and humour. He bagged several prizes in public speaking.

Jesuit Formation

Then Nedungatt joined the Society of Jesus.Already as a novice, he was assigned during his “Mission Experiment” to preach popular retreats, and left deep and lasting impressions in the minds of the participants.

Professor and Expert

He has been teaching at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome for the past 30 years, where he took his doctorate in oriental canon law in 1973 and has served as the dean of the faculty. Besides being a professor, he is the author of many well-known books and articles. Fr. Nedungatt’s name has been in the Annuario Pontificio for many years: as Consultor of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches (1989-2000); and of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts. He is the editor (since 1992) of the series Kanonika published from the Oriental Institute, Rome. He has done significant work as the President of the Apostolic Tribunal (1980) in the cause of Blessed Alphonsa; and since 1997 as postulator in the cause of Blessed Mariam Thresia. The latter’s beatification took place in 2000, to the joy of the whole Church, and of the Congregation of the Holy Family in particular. His unstinted work and the flawless Positio he wrote and submitted deserve special mention in this process. His contribution as a consultor of the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Oriental Code is not easily recorded or assessed. This commission functioned in different study groups or subcommittees; and Fr. Nedungatt was a member of three subcommittees. As the Relator of the subcommittee on Clerics and Ecclesiastical Magisterium he drafted most of the canons in these titles. The change of the title of the Code of Canons for the Oriental Churches from Codex Iuris Canonici Orientalis was inspired by his article “The Title of the New Canonical Legislation,” Studia Canonica 19 (1985) 61-80. Thus he has left his mark on the very heading of the new code. The definition of rite in Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium (CCEO) canon 28 §1 is his contribution, with due emphasis on the element of culture in it; and §2 of the same canon has a small clause (nisi aliud constat) which provides the possibility for new rites in the Church. His concern for inculturation shows forth in several canons of the CCEO, which underscore respect for diversity of cultures. One canon, for which all Eastern Catholicism will be for ever indebted to him, is canon 373, which sets clerical celibacy and the state of the married clergy on an equal footing and in perfect equipoise. With this canon ended the long tradition of canonical discrimination against married clergy in the Catholic Church, as he has explained in an illuminating article in Studia Canonica of the current year. Another canon, again innovative and inspirational, is on the role of theologians in the Church (606). Canon 572 on the Societies of Apostolic life was introduced into the CCEO at the eleventh hour, thanks to his initiative and foresight in view of its potentiality as a tool in the missionary apostolate. These are only a few examples of the imprint he has left on the CCEO.

Major Works

Nedungatt has pubished many books and hundreds of articles in various theological journals. His Major works are the following: "The Covenanters of the Early Syriac-Speaking Church" (1973); "The Spirit of the Eastern Code",(1992); "Laity and Church Temporalities: Appraisal of a Tradition",(2000); "A Companion to the Eastern Code", (1994); "The Council in Trullo Revisited" (1995); "The Synod of Diamper Revisited"(2001); "A Guide to the Eastern Code: Commentary on the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches", (2002).

Source

Francis Eluvathingal (ed.), "Syro-Malabar Church Since the Eastern Code", Rome, 2002, 1-7.