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WOMEN BISHOPS IN THE

EARLY CHURCH?

One evangelical feminist claims that

a catacomb painting shows

an early woman bishop in Rome

In a 1988 issue of the journal Christian History, Catherine Kroeger

claims that a fresco on a Christian catacomb in Rome, dating from the
late third century, shows a woman in “an amazingly authoritative
stance, like that of a bishop.” She adds, “the shepherds on either side
may represent pastors, in which case the woman may be in the role of
a bishop, blessing pastors in her charge.”^1
But is this what the fresco shows? What this article does not reveal
is that no expert in the study of ancient Christian art supports Kroeger’s
interpretation, nor does the literature on such art even mention her inter-
pretation as a possibility.
In addition, this idea is contrary to what we know of the role of
women in the early church. Such “orant” paintings, with different indi-
viduals portrayed on them, are very common in early Christian art. If
Kroeger’s theory is correct, it would mean that women bishops were also
very common in the early centuries of the church. But that is highly
unlikely. As far as I know, there is no historical record of any woman

(^1) Comments by Catherine Kroeger in Christian History 17 (1988), 2. The fresco is said to come
from the Coemeterium Majus arcosolium in Rome.