by Chris Geraghty. Published by Garratt Publishing, 2018. Reviewed by Joan Fogarty

In Jesus the Forgotten Feminist, the women who were important in Jesus’s ministry regain their rightful place in the gospel stories.

Author Chris Geraghty’s own influence — his early, Catholic family life, Catholic school education, seminary formation, priesthood and lecturing in theology — are clearly portrayed. His forensic skills as a former district court judge of New South Wales enhance his writing and add a critical reflection.

Geraghty establishes two key positions — that Jesus was a feminist, and that the Church today has forgotten Jesus’s feminism. But where are the women in the Scriptures and in Jesus’s stories, apart from Mary, his mother?

The first delight for me was the magnificient cover image by artist He Qi, “Do Not Touch Me,” of Mary Magdalene meeting Jesus after the resurrection.

Geraghty asks throughout the book: Did Jesus himself only choose men for ministry? No, he didn’t. What did Jesus really think of the women he worked with and stood beside? Jesus loved women, talked with them, was present with them and gave them dignity. If women were down-trodden, he lifted them up. Jesus celebrated with women and included them totally. With his mother Mary, Martha and Mary, Mary Magdalene, the woman at the well and the woman taken in adultery, Jesus was kind, compassionate and inclusive.

I believe this book will appeal to Christian feminists and faith-filled women and men who will find much to energise them in Geraghty’s well-researched work.

I recommend this book to those who know that the way forward for the Church is through genuine equality of lay and clergy, women and men at every level. That could possibly be through a Third Vatican Council or an International Synod in which women will participate at all levels. These could discuss and bring about the ordination of Catholic women who truly believe they are called by God. The question of optional celibacy for the ordained could be discussed. We know this is a huge ask, but it is needed. The time is right. May we and the author of Jesus the Forgotten Feminist live to see the day.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 231 October 2018: 28