The Catholic Church and Women: Some Historical Perspectives

Women in the Medieval Church 450–523: Brigid of Ireland founds Ireland’s first nunnery and spreads Christianity there. 475-545: Clotilde, Queen of the Franks, converts her husband, King Clovis, who lays the foundation of the French nation 500–547: Theodora I, co-empress of Byzantine... Read more

One of the best-kept secrets in modern culture is the enormous role that women played in the formation and development of Christianity. Since Eve was the mother of all living and Mary was the mother of the Living One, woman are indispensable to the Catholic faith. It’s simple:No woman,no... Read more

Christianity’s first known playwright Hrotsvit lived in the tenth century (932–1002) as a canoness of the Imperial Saxon Abbey of Gandersheim (Germany). She can best be described by a catalogue of pioneering achievements: she is the first known dramatist of Christianity; the first Saxon poet;... Read more

The first autobiography in the English language was written by a Christian woman, Margery Kempe, who lived in the early 1400s. In the early Middle Ages, it was not uncommon for an abbess (the female head of a religious community) to rule “double” communities of both men and women. One who... Read more

The feminist challenge to the Catholic faith is based upon a deep misunderstanding. Feminists accuse Catholicism of being thoroughly patriarchal. They claim that women have been oppressed since the Church's inception by a male power structure. In the Catholic Church, they charge, men and men... Read more