Indian Priest Appointed to Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life

Bangalore, June 26, 2024 (CCBI): Fr. Charles Davis of the Jammu-Srinagar diocese has been named a corresponding member of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life for a second five-year term (2024-2029). Currently serving as associate director at St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences in Bangalore and visiting professor at Germany's University of Freiburg.

After leaving a government job to join the Jammu-Kashmir diocese, Fr. Davis has held numerous roles including parish priest, judicial notary, principal, and personal secretary to bishop. His international experience spans chaplaincy at Frankfurt University Hospital and project coordination for a German-funded initiative at St. Joseph's Hospital in Baramulla, Kashmir.

 Fr. Davis's academic credentials are equally impressive. A recipient of the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, he holds two PhDs from German institutions - the Jesuit University of Sankt Georgen in Frankfurt and Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg - where he also obtained a professorship in Bioethics and Moral Theology.

 

His publications, including "The Ethics of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Proposals for a Legal Framework for India" and "Human Dignity in World Religions: Toward Global Bioethics and Biolaw," are widely used in university curricula. His reappointment underscores his continued influence in the fields of bioethics and moral theology on a global scale.

 By Joicy Pinto