Women in the Catholic Church
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| Women have played a significant role in the life of the Catholic Church and the Church has affected societal attitudes to women |
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Madonna and Christ Child
St. Helena
St. Clare of Assisi
St. Jeanne Jugan
St. Mary MacKillop
A Bernadine teacher in Congo
St. Edith Stein
Sister Helen Prejean
In the history of the Catholic Church, laywomen and women in religious institutes have played a variety of roles and the church has affected societal attitudes to women throughout the world in significant ways. Women constitute the majority of members of consecrated life within the Catholic Church: in 2010, there were around 721,935 professed women religious.
Prominent women in the life of the church have included Old Testament figures, and the Virgin Mary and female disciples of Jesus of the Gospels. Known influential individuals range from theologians, abbesses, monarchs, missionaries, mystics, martyrs, scientists, nurses, hospital administrators, educationalists and religious sisters, many of whom have been canonized as Catholic saints. Motherhood is given an exalted status within the Catholic faith, with Mary the Mother of Jesus officially known as Queen of Heaven. The special role and devotion accorded to Mary and Marian devotion has been a central theme of Catholic art. Conversely, the role of Eve in the Garden of Eden and other biblical stories affected the development of a Western notion of woman as "temptress".
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Wikipedia