Tertullian, third-century theologian, wrote of woman: "You are the Devil's gateway. You are the unsealer of that forbidden tree. You are the first deserter of the divine law. You are she who persuaded him whom the Devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed easily God's image in man."

I recalled Tertullian’s words when reading about the Vatican’s “reprimand” to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (Catholic Sisters), for promoting, as the New York Times reported, “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith,” and for statements that “disagree with or challenge the bishops, who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals.”