Catholic faithful throughout the world celebrates the feast of St. Mary Magdalene on 22nd July, the first witness of the Lord’s resurrection and the first evangelist.
Bridgette Mwanoka has more on the feast of St. Mary Magdalene.
Each year on 22nd July, Catholics across the world honor and celebrate the feast of St. Mary Magadalene. Celebrating the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, a woman known as the Apostle of Apostles, with the exalted rank of feast is a very recent development, as Pope Francis decreed that her liturgical commemoration should be elevated from being a mere memorial to a feast in 2016.
Mary Magadalene is currently the only woman, besides the Blessed Virgin Mary, to be accorded a proper feast day, something which is reserved for the apostles, evangelists and few other Saints. The most highly ranked are solemities, then feasts and memorials, of which some memorials are optional. The Holy Father has given new and official prominence to Mary Magdalene, in the church.
It is not a secret that the Pope has been advancing the role of women in the Catholic Church, saying women deserve equal rights. But Pope Francis gets mixed reviews when it comes to his efforts to promote women, especially to key posts inside the VATICAN.
There are appointments which the Pope made regarding women in the Catholic Church. In September 2014, he appointed Comboni Missionary Sister Luiza Premioli, a Brazilian, as a full member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of people.
Months and years went by and hopes evaporated that the appointment of Sister Luiza was the beginning of a trend. She remained the first and only woman to be a member of a top Vatican Office.
Five years later, on 8th July this year, history was made again when the Pope appointed 7 women among the 23 people to be members of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. 6 of these women are superior generals of religious order, while the 7th heads a secular institute.
Mary Magdalene is considered to be a saint by Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran Churches, with a Feast day of July 22nd.
Report by : Bridgette Mwanoka