Pope Francis recently raised the liturgical celebration of St. Mary Magdalene to the same status as that of an apostle. She is, after all, called the “apostle to the apostles” since she was the first one to announce the good news of the resurrection on Easter morning. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.” However, after that moment in the gospels she falls off radar. There are legends about her later life but nothing concrete. Feminist scholars speculate that this omission was intentional on the part of the evangelists. Perhaps, in patriarchal Roman society the Christian movement lost the radical equality of the companions of Jesus. Pope Francis has challenged to Church to rediscover the essential role of women.
JULY222020
By Church Staff
