Emmanuel
EUCHARIST: LIVING & EVANGELIZING
The Erasure of the Feminine in
Early Church History
by Mary Grace Donohoe
Scholars and Church authorities, including Pope Francis, are welcoming a renewed
study of ancient texts and Church practices to better appreciate the role of women
in the life and mission of the community of believers.
Mary Grace
Donohoe is a
recent graduate
of Stonehill
College, Easton,
Massachusetts.
She studied
political science
and religious
studies but
focuses primarily
on peacebuilding
and conflict
resolution, with
special attention
to the gendered-
dynamics’
impact on these
disciplines. She
can be reached
at donohoemary
grace@gmail.
com.
216
T he
influence of women in the foundation of the early church is often
undervalued, or at a very minimum, not discussed as frequently as
it ought to be. The influence and authority of Mary Magdalene have
been undermined, if not completely thwarted, due to a gendered-
biased interpretation of scriptural and pseudepigraphal texts during
the foundational years of the church.
This bias has influenced our understanding of our Catholic tradition
and history for centuries. Because of this, it is essential for scholars to
reopen space for discussing what and whose histories are being told
in the collection of ancient texts referred to as the canon of Sacred
Scripture. While the value of canonical texts that most Catholics are
familiar with should not be diminished, there is a need for a “gendered
curiosity” in order to more fully understand how the narratives of
women have been viewed and transmitted in Catholic tradition.
This refers to an inquiry into how historical understandings of gender
have influenced the roles of men and women in the early church and
how potentially these understandings have contributed to shaping
our modern conception of the roles of women and men in the Church.
There is a need to reevaluate the standards by which we understand
why certain traditions and texts have been accepted into Church
teaching and why others have been lost. In this gendered curiosity,
important questions regarding whose stories are told in the accepted
texts and traditions will be asked, and this curiosity will leave room for
a better understanding of the silences in Church history.