unit seven
What about the role ascribed to Mary, the mother of Jesus?

• read the narration column first
• then do the exercises

Exercise 1

Consider why there is a conflict between the traditional image of Mary, and 'the empowerment of women'.

Who should be blamed for this?

Exercise 2

Discuss how this paradoxical image of Mary is clearly reflected in Pope John Paul II’s Letter to Women (29 June 1995).

1. Mary as unreal model for women

Because Mary was Jesus’ mother, Christians had a tendency, from the earliest times onwards, to attribute an almost divine status to her. At the same time, the full cultural stigma of being subservient and submissive was seen reflected in her.

“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman ... She brought a male child into the world who was to rule all the nations ...” (Revelation 12,1.5).

The Congregation for Doctrine in Rome sees a reason for the permanent exclusion of women from leadership roles in the fact that ‘Even Mary was not invested with the apostolic ministry.’ It derives this argument from some Fathers of the Church, such as the grumpy Epiphanes, who was a bishop in Cyprus; 315 - 403 AD:

“I come now to the New Testament. If women had been appointed to act as priests on behalf of God, or to perform official liturgical acts in the Church , it must surely have come about that Mary herself, who received the privilege of carrying in her bosom the Sovereign King, the heavenly God, God’s Son, would in the New Testament have exercised the priestly office. But she did not judge such action to be right. She was not even entrusted with the bestowal of Baptism, since the Christ himself was baptized not by her but by John . . . .” Panarion 79, § 3.

What may we conclude from Mary’s role as described in Sacred Scripture itself?

Exercise 3

Take the Magnificat (Luke 1,46-55) and write it in your own words as an empowering poem for a woman of the 21st century.

Exercise 3

Explore the role of Mary in St John's Gospel.

Mary and religious leadership in the Church

1. It is obvious that Mary had a unique role in the Incarnation. It is also clear, however, that her task as Jesus’ mother differed from the task entrusted to the women who followed Jesus and who began to exercise various ministries in the early Christian community.

To argue, as Ephiphanius does, that women cannot baptise because Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist and not by his mother Mary, goes way beyond the legitimate meaning of Scripture.

2. On the other hand, we have a very interesting reflection on Mary’s role within the context of women’s ministries in the writings of Luke. Luke, who was both the author of the Gospel named after him and of the Acts of the Apostles, mainly wrote for the Christian communities established by Paul. He pays a lot of attention to the position occupied by women in the new communities.

• Luke is concerned about the succession in ministries. Read: Luke on the Future of Women’s Ministry .
• Luke also highlights Mary’s part in foreshadoing a greater role of women in the ministries. Read Mary’s Apostolate.

3. Though it is not our task here to discuss tradition as such, it may be good to point out, in response to quotations such as that from Epiphanius of Cyprus, that from the early Fathers onwards a priestly status was attributed to Mary, based on a symbolic interpretation of many scriptural passages. Read an anthology of quotations in The Titles of Mary’s priestly dignity.

See also: Kim Power, ‘Re-imagining Mary at Christmas’, Re-imagining Newsletter (Minneapolis) 16 (1998) November.

Conclusion

The specific role attributed to Mary in New Testament texts does not stand in opposition to leadership roles entrusted to women in the Church.

On the contrary, Mary’s exalted position shows that women are capable of all leadership roles. Read St. Albert the Great about this.