Yesterday was the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Contrary to what many think, this is not the day Mary conceived Christ. That feast, The Annunciation, is in March. The purpose of the Immaculate Conception is to reinforce the notion that Mary was without Original Sin.
It is one of three feasts in the Catholic Calendar that involve Mary; the Annunciation, celebrated in March and the Assumption, in August, are the other two. Her birth is honor in September and Mary is also celebrated the entire month of May; in many Churches a "May Crowning" is a major event.
This veneration of Mary does not square well with the Catholic Church's record towards women. The clergy is by fiat male and celibate and it took decades for many churches to have female lectors, Communion Ministers or even Altar Servers. The role of women in the Church seems mainly support.
The Catholic Church's stance on reproductive rights is another example of how it seems to want to subjugate women. Abortion and contraception are both against dogma.
The way Mary is venerated in the Church may reflect the attitude the Church has towards women; meek, mild, and deferential. A vision of womanhood that may not square well in the era of #notme.
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