Mary and Early Christian Women - by Ally Kateusz (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND license.

This book reveals exciting early Christian evidence that Mary was remembered as a powerful role model for women leaders--women apostles, baptizers, and presiders at the ritual meal. Early Christian art portrays Mary and other women clergy serving as deacon, presbyter/priest, and bishop. In addition, the two oldest surviving artifacts to depict people at an altar table inside a real church depict women and men in a gender-parallel liturgy inside two of the most important churches in Christendom--Old Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome and the second Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Dr. Kateusz's research brings to light centuries of censorship, both ancient and modern, and debunks the modern imagination that from the beginning only men were apostles and clergy.

From the Back Cover

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND license.

This book reveals exciting early Christian evidence that Mary was remembered as a powerful role model for women leaders--women apostles, baptizers, and presiders at the ritual meal. Early Christian art portrays Mary and other women clergy serving as deacon, presbyter/priest, and bishop. In addition, the two oldest surviving artifacts to depict people at an altar table inside a real church depict women and men in a gender-parallel liturgy inside two of the most important churches in Christendom--Old Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome and the second Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Dr. Kateusz's research brings to light centuries of censorship, both ancient and modern, and debunks the modern imagination that from the beginning only men were apostles and clergy.

Review Quotes

"Ally Kateusz has written an engaging and extensively researched book examining the evidence for liturgical roles for women in the early Church. ... Mary and Early Christian Women will certainly be encouraging to those girls and women who have only seen examples of male leadership in the Church, and for whom the example of Mary has been misused and abused, by providing an alternative image of an empowered, active Mary as a type for female leadership in the early Church." (Nell Whiscombe, Modern Believing, Vol. 64 (4), 2023)

"This book will inspire Christian scholars, ministers, and congregations to rethink their perspectives on gender roles in Christianity. ... this book will assist in breaking the prevalent misperception that early church women leaders were rare. It will challenge readers to fully acknowledge that women have been integrally present throughout Christian history." (JungJa Joy Yu, Reading Religion, readingreligion.org, April 27, 2021)

"Ally Kateusz presents a multidisciplinary analysis of literary texts, church art, and church ... . She supports her literary and iconographic claims with official church commissions, directives, and commentaries, sometimes made by popes. .... For scholars, the book is a treasure trove, with thirty-nine pages of references and fifty pages of notes. ... Mary and Early Christian Women: Hidden Leadership is a stimulating read and the author's perspective on imagination and Christian history will make you think. Highly recommended." (Elizabeth Ursic, Cross-Currents, Vol. 71 (1), March, 2021)

"Mary and Early Christian Women would certainly interest readers who are invested in women's roles in churches and especially readers invested in Catholicism. ... The artwork included in this book is stunning, and the images portray Mary and other women in significant liturgical roles. Overall, Mary and Early Christian Women is a significant contribution to the field for its attention to extracanonical texts, artistic analysis, and its accessibility." (Christy Cobb, RBL, Review of Biblical Literature, Issue 12, 2020)

About the Author

Dr. Ally Kateusz is Research Associate at the Wijngaards Institute of Catholic Research in London. She is a cultural historian whose work focuses on religion and gender. Her research has been published in the Journal of Early Christian Studies, the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, as well as other venues, and has won prestigious awards.