Mary Magdalene got a bum rap from the Church

Mary Magdalene got a bum rap from the Roman Catholic Church – and still seems to be getting the short end of the stick!

We’ve all heard of Mary Magdalene though some call her Miriam, others call her Mary Magdala or Mary Magdalen. While she’s been called by many names, there is one designation she is notoriously remembered for—being the remorseful prostitute who washed Jesus’ feet.

Did you realize that in 1969 the Roman Catholic Church admitted that they made a mistake by dubbing her the prostitute in the Bible?

"Only in 1969 did the Catholic Church officially repeal Gregory’s labeling of Mary as WH0RE*, thereby admitting their error—though the image of Mary Magdalene as the penitent WH0RE* has remained in the public teachings of all Christian denominations.” (1)

The Gregory that this citation refers to is Pope Gregory I, who in 591 delivered Homily 33 in which he erroneously, interpreted the unnamed woman in Luke 7 as Mary of Magdala and that she should remain a prostitute. That title stuck. The odd thing is that nowhere does it suggest that the unnamed woman or Mary is a prostitute in the Gospels.

What my brain can’t seem to wrap around is that I went to parochial school and CCD classes after 1969 and I don’t ever recall being taught the truth about this amazing woman. In fact, I wasn’t taught of the significance that beside Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene is the only woman who is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John). Nor do I recall being told how meaningful it was that Mary Magdalene was with Mother Mary and John at the foot of the cross while Jesus was crucified.

I did remember that Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the resurrected Jesus, but I wasn’t taught the implication of this.  Even the apostle John considered Mary to be the founder of Christianity, and received the designation of “apostle of apostles.”

According to the Nag Hammadi (third century Pistis Sophia, 193), Jesus asked Mary to teach the other disciples, those men who weren’t with him when he was crucified.

“Where I shall be, there will be also my twelve ministers. But Mary Magdalene, John and the Virgin will tower over all my disciples and over all men who shall receive the mysteries in the Ineffable. And they will be on my right and my left. And I am they, and they are I.”(emphasis added)

I’m not even going to mention the strong likelihood that Mary was Jesus’ wife (perhaps I just did). It does seem obvious that she was the Wayshower’s significant other, though I leave that discussion to esteemed authors like Margaret Starbird, Simcha Jacobovici and Barrie Wilson.

Jesus entrusted Christianity to Mary Magdalene to teach humankind, but the Church was formed by following Peter, even though Levi (Mathew) challenged Peter in the Gospel of Mary:

At this, Levi spoke up: “Peter, you have always been hot-tempered, and now you are repudiating a woman (Mary), just as our adversaries do. Yet if the Teacher (Jesus) held her worthy, who are we to reject her? Surely the teacher knew her well, for he loved her more than us.” (page 18: 7-14)
 

I am left with many thoughts as I make my way through Jean-Yves Leloup’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, which involves the interpretation of Jesus’ teaching from the viewpoint of Gnosticism ("spiritual development and salvation are achieved through inner knowing”). One of my thoughts is - what would the Catholic Church be like today if it followed Mary, the apostle of apostles, not Peter who was noticeably absent at Jesus’ crucifixion?

In 1969 when the Church admitted their error by appealing Pope Gregory’s labeling of Mary as a prostitute, Mary of Magdala still got a bum rap, as the correction goes unnoticed like a random footnote in stereo instructions.

Being involved in public relations, I now wonder, what if social media existed in 1969? Do you think the truth would have gone viral through Twitter or Facebook? Do you think that after 40+ years she’d be known as the apostle of apostles and founder of Christianity? Or do you think she’d still be known as the sexual being?

Namaste.

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1) Leloup, J. Y., The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Inner Traditions, 2002

* Please note that "o" was replaced with a “0” in Jean-Yves Leloups' quote (WH0RE) to bypass publishing sensors.