There’s a version of the Church most people grow up with. Clean. Certain. Settled. Then there’s the version you don’t hear about. In this conversation, Margaret Mary O’Connor sits down with Father Ann to look at what’s been left out, rewritten, or quietly dismissed when it comes to women, power, and authority in the Catholic Church. This is not a polite discussion. It is an honest one.
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What Happens When You Only Hear One Side
Most Catholics have been taught that women were never priests, never leaders, never central to the structure of the early Church. But that is not the full story. There is a historical thread that reaches back to the earliest centuries where women held roles of influence. Deacons. Leaders. Witnesses. Not on the sidelines, but in the center of what was unfolding. So the question becomes simple. If that history existed, why don’t most people know it?
Mary Magdalene Was Never Meant to Be Small
Mary Magdalene is often remembered through a distorted lens. For centuries, she was labeled, minimized, reduced. Yet she was the first witness to the resurrection. She stayed when others fled. She saw what others didn’t. She carried the message forward. That is not a minor role. That is leadership. And when her story is rewritten, something bigger is lost. Not just her voice, but the message itself.
This Isn’t About Women Asking for a Seat
At some point, the conversation shifts. This is not about women trying to gain access to power. It is about why power has been structured the way it has in the first place. When you call it women’s ordination, it sounds like a special interest issue. Something optional. Something negotiable. But that is not what this is. This is about participation, about calling, about whether an institution reflects the fullness of the people it serves. When half the population is excluded, the impact does not stay contained. It ripples through everything.
The Cost of Keeping Things the Same
There is a deeper layer to this conversation that goes beyond Church structure. When systems are built on hierarchy, when one group is elevated and another is diminished, it does not stop at religion. It shows up everywhere. In leadership. In policy. In how people are valued. You can trace the pattern. And once you see it, it becomes difficult to ignore.
A Breaking Point or a Turning Point
There is movement happening. Questions are being asked that were once avoided. People are looking more closely at what has been accepted without question for generations. Some will see this as disruption. Others will see it as necessary. What is clear is that something is shifting.
Why This Conversation Matters
This episode is not about convincing. It is about revealing. It invites you to look again at what you have been told, to consider what may have been left out, and to decide for yourself what feels true.
About Father Anne
Father Anne is the author of The Shepherd Within: Following God’s Incarnational Initiative to Fullness of Life Beyond Institutional Control, a work that invites readers to rediscover God’s living presence not as distant or hierarchical, but moving through human conscience, relationship, and justice.
She was ordained on October 16, 2021, in Albuquerque, New Mexico through the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests and now serves as an
independent Roman Catholic priest. Her priesthood is rooted in a profound love for the Society of Jesus and Ignatian spirituality, formed over twelve years of ministry alongside Jesuits.
Father Anne earned a Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, and has served in multiple Jesuit parishes. In addition to her theological formation, she holds a master’s degree in Rhetoric and Writing Studies from San Diego State University and brings more than twenty-five years of experience in strategic communications.
Deeply grounded in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, Father Anne is especially drawn to the work of discernment and to exploring what the next era of the Church may become. While many have understandably walked away from the Roman Catholic Church, she continues to respond to the call of the Holy Spirit, collaborating with God in the ongoing work of equality, truth, and transformation within one of the most powerful institutions in the world.
About Deacon Margaret Mary O’Connor
Deacon Margaret Mary O’Connor, a member of the Catholic laity, once believed she understood her Church and its teachings. Everything changed the day she uncovered a centuries old scandal of lies and institutional cover up surrounding the history of women in ordained ministry. Realizing that her own Church had hidden the truth about women priests, women deacons, and even women bishops, she felt a deep and unforgettable sense of betrayal.
That moment became the catalyst for her mission. Margaret Mary now travels what she calls the Highway of Radical Truth, exposing the layers of deception that
have kept millions of Catholics unaware of the prominent roles women held in early Church history. Her work challenges long held assumptions, confronts the
complicity of the hierarchy, and calls Catholics to learn the real history for themselves.
For Margaret Mary, every Catholic deserves the truth. She believes transparency is not optional, especially when the suppression of women’s vocations continues to harm the Church today. Her research shines a spotlight on hidden historical records that may even hold answers to the modern priest shortage.
Often described as a “Modern Day David,” Margaret Mary is relentless in her commitment to revealing what has been intentionally concealed. Through her well researched writings, public advocacy, and ministry within the Celtic Christian Church, she brings these buried truths to light.
She is the author of Scandal in the Shadows and Journey of a Celiac’s Soul, and remains a force for honesty, courage, and reform within the broader Catholic conversation.
