The bodies of Christ as international bodies: the Holy See, wom(b)an and the Cairo Conference

Abstract

This article examines how the various bodies of Christ, such as the Catholic Church, the Holy See and the Pope, use their spiritual power to define, assign and confine woman as wom(b)an, or woman defined in relation to her body, specifically her reproductive capacities. In particular, it explores how this power was deployed at the UN-sponsored International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD in 1994). It was here that attempts were made by the bodies of Christ to advance the particular - the Catholic articulation of woman, reproductive options and sexuality - as the universal, in the international. The article begins by examining the spiritual sovereignty and the power of the Pope, which is followed with an inquiry into a particular power performance, namely, the Catholic articulation of woman, reproductive option and sexuality. The following section examines the politics of the spiritual as they pertain to the Holy See's words and deeds both before and during the ICPD. The paper concludes by offering some insights into the power relations that mediate the relations among the bodies of Christ, woman and the ICPD.