Jesus’ mama has always been rightly venerated. But what of his ’sisters’ ?? What of Mary of Magdala? She has been the victim of a 2,000-year smear campaign. Oh, and check out this definition, and its origin:

[Source: The Britannica Concise]

PROPAGANDA:

“Manipulation of information to influence public opinion. The term comes from Congregatio de propaganda fide (”Congregation for Propagation of the Faith”), a missionary organization established by the pope in 1622. Propagandists emphasize the elements of information that support their position and deemphasize or exclude those that do not. Misleading statements and even lies may be used to create the desired effect in the public audience.”

;)

Later Christian art continued to show women such as St. Catherine of Siena with books or holding scrolls on which their own words were written. Church decoration depicted these women for everyone to see, and illustrated manuscripts portrayed them to the merchant and noble classes. These were familiar visual reminders that women could be learned and wise. A consequence of the Protestant Reformation, with its wide-sweeping destruction of religious art, was to reduce radically the visibility of educated women.

The Catholic Church has always held women in very high regard, starting with the mother of Jesus. The history of the Church bears constant testimony of this position of Mary in the history of civilization. It has from the beginning vindicated the dignity of womanhood and declared that in spiritual matters man and woman are equal, according to the words of St. Paul: “There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28)

Don’t confuse authentic Church teaching with some of the less-than-edifying writings and behavior of individual Catholics.

Wow.

Also, it’s a bit inaccurate to lump Italy, Rome and The Vatican together. Rome got its start around 750 BC; The Vatican obviously came into being sometime after Jesus’ death; while Italy wasn’t formally unified until 1861. Rome did its best to eradicate the early Church, while Italy seized most of what was left of the Papal States in the 19th Century. The three are hardly interchangeable.

Finally, if the Catholic Church didn’t want “chicks” doing anything of value, it wouldn’t have allowed them to take vows and becomes nuns.

There was a great special on the History channel last night about Mary Magdalene — a channel whose theological narratives I usually take with a grain of salt — but this one had legitimate logic to it. The Catholic Church didn’t want any chicks doing anything of value. Period.

HAS THE WORLD CHANGED ONE IOTA? No.