These facts and events are from Appendix B in Mary’s Vision: Mary Magdalene and the Quest for Gender Equality
Left: Mary Magdalene telling the 11 remaining Apostles of the resurrection of Jesus. This portrayal is in the Saint Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in San Diego, CA.
• There are a great many variations to the tradition of Mary Magdalene’s life in Provence. In this book, the part of her life in Gaul is based on some of the more possible segments from a number of these varying traditions, with fictional, but plausible, persons and events added for story continuity and completeness.
• Nothing is known of Mary Magdalene’s life prior to when she met Jesus.
• There is no credible evidence that Mary Magdalene ever was, or was not, married.
• The first version of The Gospel of Mary is believed to have been written in the early part of the 3rd century c. e. Who compiled it, and the sources used, are unknown.
• In 397 c. e., the Council of Carthage decided which writings would constitute the official Canon (Bible) of the Christian Church. Twenty-seven writings were chosen, which today are known as the New Testament. The Gospel of Mary was not among them, nor were any other Gnostic gospels.
• Both Mary Magdalene and Lazarus have received Sainthood status.
• Pope Gregory I, about 591 c.e., issued a homily praising Mary Magdalene for seeking forgiveness for her prior sinful ways, which included accusations about weaknesses of the flesh and lust, thereby creating within the church the perception that she was a reformed prostitute. For elaboration, see the Karen L. King 2003 reference in the bibliography, p. 151.
• In the period 1480-1590, a great many paintings of Mary Magdalene appeared, mostly by Italian painters but also by others. Some earlier ones are known as well.
• In the 17th and 18th centuries, many paintings appeared on the theme of “the penitent Mary Magdalene,” including one by El Greco.
• In 1888, Czar Aleksander III of Russia built the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem in honor of his mother, because Mary Magdalene was her patroness saint.
• In 1896, the first known partial copy of The Gospel of Mary was purchased in Cairo. A partial copy of The Gospel of Mary was found at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945.
• In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church, then headed by Pope Paul VI, acknowledged that Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute.
• In 1977, the Vatican issued a declaration reaffirming the Roman Catholic Church’s ban on female priests. (Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, January 27, 2019, p. B9)
• On June 30, 1982, the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution died, as it had failed to get the necessary number of state ratifications for its adoption.
• On November 11, 1992, the General Synod of the Church of England approved the ordination of women as priests. On November 20, 2012, it voted not to allow women to become bishops. In November 2014, it voted to allow women to become bishops.
• On June 10, 2016, the Roman Catholic Church’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued a decree which elevated Mary’s liturgical status from an obligatory memorial to a feast day, the same status as enjoyed by the apostles selected by Jesus. Peter and Paul are further honored with a solemnity and are the only two disciples more highly honored than Mary Magdalene. A preface was added to the Mass which for the first time explicitly referred to Mary as the “apostle to the Apostles.”
• In June 2016, a leader of a Jewish group of women was detained by Israeli police for trying to exercise prayer rights equal to those of men at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
• In 2018, a meeting of Catholic bishops called by Pope Francis discussed women’s rights and issued a statement saying a place for women at the church’s decision-making table was a “duty of justice” and that the church as a whole must recognize the urgency of “inescapable change.” The nuns present were not allowed to vote. (Associated Press, October 28, 2018).
Copyright © 2022 Mary's Vision - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy Website Builder
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.