It was pleasantly surprising that the fellows running the Catholic Thing
decided to descend from their high perch and return to an old Bible
story - the story of Mary Magdalene.
So they do believe in the Bible after all.
Last week I had written on the old malevolent institution loved by the
Vatican called the Inquisition. But the Inquisition is not dead.
It has resurrected under a new name - Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith (CDF) and its head in the late 1990s was a German Cardinal
called Joseph Ratzinger in his 70s. He was soon on the lookout for a
victim; and he soon found one in the person of Sri Lankan theologian Fr
Tissa Balasuriya.
Tissa had written a book Mary and Human Liberation in which he had
raised a number of questions and comments, such as
1. In what way is Jesus united with God?... In what way is the Bible
inspired? Such issues were elaborated later in Christian history.
2. Who can know whether Mary was a virgin after the birth of Jesus?
There has been a trend to attribute perpetual virginity to Mary but the
scriptural evidence is weak.
3. Th usual perspective of original sin is not acceptable in other Asian
religions. That whole generations of peoples died with a lesser chance
of salvation is repugnant to the idea of a just and loving God.
The fact is that an Asian theologian had challenged the traditional
portrayal of Mary by the 'capitalist, patriarchal and colonialist West'.
Fr Tissa told the India media: "I have simply portrayed Mary as a role
model for working class women."
The truth is that the Vatican is increasingly uncomfortable with the
independent stand taken by South Asian theologians in recent years. Like
all Euro institutions, the Vatican would be happy with a submissive
posture from the Asians and Blacks.
Eddie Ray
------ Original Message ------
From: "The Catholic Thing" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, 14 Nov, 22 At 11:01
Subject: Mary the Great
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Mary the Great
Brad Miner profiles a remarkable woman: Mary Magdalene. She has been a
frequent subject in art, and Domenico Tintoretto painted a truly superb
portrait of her.
Who was she really? Can we even agree on what to call her? Is she Mary
Magdalene or Mary Magdalen; Mary of Magdala or The Magdalene; maybe
simply Madeleine?
Her proper name aside (which would have been Miryam in
Hebrew or Maryam in Aramaic), we know that she was very important among
the Lord’s disciples – so much so that she’s mentioned in the Gospels
more often than most of the apostles.
Luke (8:2-3) tells us she “had been cured of evil spirits”
and that “seven demons had gone out” of her, and Mark (16:19) says so
too, a detail he adds to the story of her visit to the tomb and Christ’s
appearance to her in the garden after His Resurrection. When she told
the apostles of the Lord’s rising, they didn’t believe her. (Lk. 8:9-11)
Matthew mentions her three times (27:56 and 61 and 28:1),
again in the context of Easter. And John, witness to the Crucifixion,
notes that Mary Magdalene was at the foot of the cross with Mary, the
mother of Jesus, and Mary, wife Clopas. (Jn. 19:25)
John also records her presence at the tomb (20:1) on that
greatest of Sunday mornings. She – among all the other followers of
Jesus – was first to see the empty tomb.
But John also gives us the remarkable fact that she was the
first to be in the presence of the risen Lord.
Click here to read the rest of Mr. Miner’s column . . .
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Image: Penitent Magdalene by Domenico Tintoretto, bet. 1598 and 1602
[Capitoline Museums, Rome]
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