Breaking Protocol by Patrick Carolan

I have been told that there are some people who exude such a sense of oneness, of their connection to God and all of God’s beautiful and wondrous creation, that you can feel it just by being in their presence. I imagine this is how people like Mother Theresa or Saint Francis must have been. I certainly felt it in my experience of meeting Pope Francis on a couple of occasions. In these blessed encounters, shaking hands and joking with him, I knew I was in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Those of us who could not be in Rome after his passing got to witness vicariously the rituals, pomp and circumstance, and traditions of saying goodbye to our spiritual leader, as well as the nearly thousand-year-old tradition of the conclave to elect a new pope. The one event that stood out most to me was when an 81-year-old nun, Sister Geneviève Jeanningros, quietly stepped up to the coffin of Pope Francis to offer a final farewell.

Sister Geneviève is a member of the Little Sisters of Jesus. After moving to Rome, she devoted her time to serving those on the margins. She worked with the poor, homeless, and LGBTQ communities. On Wednesdays, she would often bring folks from these groups to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican’s general audiences. Francis would not only welcome them, but would often ask them to share a meal with him. It appears somewhat ironic that while many priests and bishops are trying to deny Holy Communion to transgender and queer folks, the pope was inviting them to his table.

There have been several media reports about Sister Geneviève ignoring Vatican protocol and entering the “forbidden zone” to mourn her dear friend and ally. For the most part, these articles present the view that the Vatican allowed Sister Geneviève to violate official standards and enter a sacred space where women are forbidden. In the International Business Times, Rohit David wrote: “Typically reserved for cardinals and bishops, this sacred space was off-limits, yet officials allowed her to stay.” He continued, “Sister Geneviève Jeanningros’ emotional farewell to Pope Francis was more than a breach of protocol—it was a testament to a friendship rooted in shared faith and service. By allowing her to grieve by his side, the Vatican honored Francis’ legacy of putting people over pomp.”

Such statements appear to be framed in such a way as to suggest that the credit should go to the Vatican and church hierarchy for being so magnanimous as to “allow” Sister Geneviève to properly mourn her close friend. I do not know Sister Geneviève, but from what I have read and heard about her, I do not think she would have worried much about protocols and permissions. She certainly did not follow protocol or get permission when she invited homeless and transgender people to join her in sharing a meal with her friend Pope Francis.

Perhaps the question we should be asking is why, some two thousand years after the resurrected Christ appeared first to a woman, Mary Magdalene, and commissioned her to go and spread the Good News to the rest of the Apostles, there would even be protocols or rules preventing a woman from entering a sacred space. According to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, women were the major witnesses of his crucifixion and resurrection. These evangelists all record that a significant group of women followed Jesus and that they were present at his execution while the male disciples were hiding in fear.

I was recently blessed to spend a weekend with my friend, former colleague, and sometimes cellmate Franciscan Sister Marie Lucey. Sister Marie has spent much of her life fighting for justice and peace. She has witnessed nine separate papacies, and she still serves as the associate director of the Franciscan Action Network. One evening while we were having a glass of wine, I asked Sister Marie what she thought when Sister Geneviève crossed the barrier. Sister Marie looked at me and replied, “Let me ask you a question. Why do you think the resurrected Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene?”

I must admit, it was something I had never thought about. Mary Magdalene is recognized as one of the most devoted followers of Jesus. It is well documented in the gospels that Jesus first appeared to Mary (see John 20:1-18, Mark 16:9-11, and Matt 28:1-10). It was clearly not an accident or mere circumstance that Mary happened to be at the tomb at that moment. As the risen Christ, Jesus could have appeared to anyone— including Peter, John, or any of the other apostles—at any time and place. But the risen Christ purposely chose to appear to Mary Magdalene. If we believe Jesus is the Son of God and the risen Christ, then we must understand that everything he said and did has a profound meaning. By commissioning Mary, Jesus empowered her as the first apostle of the resurrection. Her encounter with the risen Christ is one of the most stirring moments documented in the Scriptures.

Despite this, our church has gone to great lengths over the centuries to diminish, demean, and undermine the leadership roles that women have played in its formation and growth. In Romans 16, Paul speaks of one Junia, whom he describes as “of note among the apostles.” A thousand years later, the church decided to change Junia’s name to the male version, Junias—even though in Roman and Greek literature from the time of Jesus there are hundreds of occurrences of the woman’s name Junia and not a single mention of the male name Junias. In the second century CE, Irenaeus wrote that “both nature and the law place the woman in a subordinate condition to the man.” In 591, Pope Gregory the Great gave a homily that redefined Mary Magdalene as a prostitute. And the 13th-century theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas, considered one of the leading doctors of the church, wrote that women are defective and misbegotten.

In in her article “Real Biblical Womanhood: The Defiant Women of Hebrew Scripture,” Rebecca Bratten Weiss shows how the holiness and spirituality of these women has nothing to do with submissiveness. “The women in the Bible often advance God’s plan by defying, not conforming to, cultural convention,” she writes. Within the context of church history, Saint Clare of Assisi exemplifies such a role. Saint Clare was a contemporary and companion of Saint Francis of Assisi. Together they co-founded the Franciscan order in 1209. At the time, the protocol was that if a woman entered a religious order, it would be in a cloistered monastery away from the world. Clare said that no woman should not be hidden away in a cloister; she should be working in the world, helping the poor and marginalized.

When it came time to write the rules of the order, Clare broke with the tradition that women religious had to be under the direction of men, usually bishops or priests. “Catholic historians consider St. Clare to be the first woman to write a rule, or set of guidelines, for her religious community,” Nicole Sotelo explains in the National Catholic Reporter. “At a time when most women’s communities lived according to rules written by men, Clare’s decision to compose a rule for her own community was a bold gesture.”

We must ask ourselves the question: Why are we so insecure that we feel threatened by these strong, mystical, spiritual women? Why do we feel it necessary to demean and diminish them? History tells us that a single person inspiring hope through a single action can start a movement of change: people like Rosa Parks refusing to move to the back of the bus, or the young man who stood in front of tanks at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Maybe the simple action by Sister Geneviève Jeanningros of ignoring protocol and crossing into the “forbidden zone” can be seen as a similarly profound statement. Maybe each of us, including our church leaders, should take the time to reflect on the question that Sister Marie asked me: Why did Jesus choose to first appear to a woman, Mary Magdalene? What is the message that Jesus, the risen Christ, is trying to convey? ♦

Patrick Carolan is a Catholic activist, organizer, and writer. He served as the Executive director of the Franciscan Action Network for ten years; he co-founded the Global Catholic Climate Movement and Catholics Vote Common Good. His writing and activism are centered on his understanding and belief through Franciscan spirituality of the connectedness of all creation and God.

1 reply
  1. Bev Brazauskas
    Bev Brazauskas says:

    Patrick, this was such a good article. If you haven’t read HOPE, Pope Francis’ autobiography, you should and definitely read page 177. I thought of that page throughout reading your article. Thank you.

    Reply

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