Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican’s culture minister, said Mary Magdalene’s reputation was sullied by her depiction in art over the centuries.I've posted before on Fr. John Meier's book series called The Marginal Jew (up to Vol. 5) in which Fr. Meier, a professor at Notre Dame, has used rigorous historical analysis to revisit the life of Jesus, with his baseline established by what his imaginary "unpapal conclave", made of a Jew, Protestant, Muslim, Catholic and atheist, would consider accurate. Fr. Meier had concluded that Mary Magdalene was indeed another apostle (Vol. 1, The Marginal Jew).
“Art history made her become a prostitute, which is something that is not present in the Gospels,” he said, adding that she also has been portrayed as Jesus’ wife.
“It is important to find the real face of Mary Magdalene, who is a woman who represents the importance of the female aspect on the side of Christ,” he told The Associated Press at the Vatican.
As to what the "female aspect on the side of Christ" actually means I don't know. According to Genesis we are all male and female made in God's image. Jesus also noted in heaven there is no marriage, we are like angels, and Paul said in heaven there is no male and female. (I leave the cites as an exercise for the reader.)
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