Vindicating Mary Magdalene

Throughout history, much has been speculated about Mary Magdalene and some strange theories have been raised, which mention her as the sentimental partner of Jesus. However, there is very little reliable written information about her, who bravely accompanied the Lord during his most difficult moments (crucifixion, death and burial).

On the one hand, undoubtedly Mary Magdalene is the first person who saw the risen Jesus. Due to this extraordinary fact, she is the main witness, interlocutor and mediator of the Lord, and even this phenomenon granted her power and authority over the apostles.

It should be noted that the risen Jesus preferred to appear first to her than to the other disciples, who were engaged in their power struggles for the leadership of the Church. Sensationally, the Master ratified his position of: a) defense of human rights, b) recognition of institutions, laws, norms, hierarchies and merits, c) dignification of work, and d) non-deification of human beings.

And on the other hand, in a time when women were marginalized and could not even present their testimony in the courts, this first appearance was a great problem for the followers of Jesus (being it a source of shame in a patriarchal and male culture). In that sense, the disciples decided to minimize or deny this fact (the evangelists Matthew and Luke dont mention Mary Magdalene as the first witness of the resurrection, and Paul ignored this event in his letter to the Corinthians, stating that Jesus appeared first to Peter).

In addition, Mary Magdalene (one of the best disciples of the Lord, and perhaps the leader of the group of women who financed his movement) was disparaged for being a woman, and envied by her economic position and merits. In this regard, she is the victim of a defamation campaign, which unjustly associated her with an adulterous and great sinner.

Although there were rectifications of the Catholic Church in 1969 and 2016, and Mary Magdalene is a saint with the same degree of the other apostles, still a false negative image and the prejudices against her persist.

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