1,000 signatures reached
To: Pope Francis
Ask Pope Francis to Speak Up for Women in the Church
The prayer for the Jubilee Year of Mercy is beautiful, yet in one area it falls short. Pairing Mary Magdalene with “the adulteress” and claiming that she too sought happiness “only in created things” reinforces a centuries-long – but historically and biblically incorrect – view of Mary as a prostitute or public sinner. We ask Pope Francis to issue a statement publicly correcting record on Mary of Magdala.
Why is this important?
Pope Francis has called for a deeper conversation around women and the Church. Correcting the record on Mary of Magdala would be an important contribution to the conversation.
There is no biblical evidence that Mary of Magdala was a prostitute or public sinner.
Instead, in three of the four Gospel accounts, the Risen Jesus first appears to Mary, and she is the only person – man or woman – to be placed at the empty tomb in all four Gospels. Since Mary reported the good news of the Resurrection to the apostles, she was named apostolorum apostola – the Apostle of the Apostles – by early church leaders such as Hippolytus of Rome and Gregory the Great.
The portrayal of Mary of Magdala as a repentant prostitute has overshadowed her true role in the early Church and has contributed to the marginalization of women in the Church throughout the centuries and even to this day.
Correcting the record on Mary of Magdala would provide a good historical and biblical starting point to discuss the role of women in the Church today.
How it will be delivered
Deborah Rose-Milavec, Executive Director of FutureChurch, will present this petition and your signatures, to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, the Vatican office responsible for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, when she is in Rome for the Synod on the Family this October.