A virtual event with Boston College on Tuesday, July 22, will celebrate the feast of St. Mary Magdalene and the women who assisted in the earthly ministry of Jesus. The only African-American female delegate to the Synod on Synodality, Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns, will serve as the facilitator.
“[She will share] how Mary Magdalene’s leadership, witness, and authority created a path for the Synod Mothers to speak and serve in their authority on behalf of themselves and others as baptized missionary disciples of the Church,” reads an event description from the university’s Clough School of Theology and Ministry.
16th ANNUAL SAINT MARY MAGDALENE CELEBRATIONhttps://t.co/VHKyI8pBHb
— BC CSTM Continuing Ed (@bccstmce) July 18, 2025
Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns, shares how Mary Magdalene's leadership created a path for the Synod Mothers to serve in their authority as baptized missionary disciples of the Church @bcstm @C21Center @Synod_va pic.twitter.com/YS9un4b6yX
This year marks the 16th annual St. Mary Magdalene celebration for the school, which celebrates her feast with an online liturgical service and reflection on the importance of women in the Church.
The initiative has aimed to recover the authentic history of the saint herself as the “apostle to the apostles” and to empower modern women to follow her example of faith. The annual reflector is selected from among female Catholic scholars, including two Black Catholics since 2023.
This year’s lecture from Bailey Manns will draw the connection between the Synod—which recently included women as voting delegates for the first time—and the pioneering example of Mary Magdalene herself, one of Jesus’ closest followers and the first witness of the Resurrection.
Bailey Manns was one of two African-American delegates in Rome during the Synod on Synodality in 2023 and 2024, and among more than 50 women overall. There, she served as an advocate for various communities, including Black Catholics, women, and LGBTQ+ persons, and was an elected rapporteur.
The “Synod Mothers,” as Bailey Manns describes them, were together representatives of a distinct vision for the Church in a new age of egalitarian understanding, including more women’s leadership, an increased awareness of clericalism, and even the possibility of women deacons.
Bailey Manns presently serves as the director of adult learning at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Minneapolis and as a spiritual director, retreat leader, public speaker, and faculty member at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. She holds a Doctor of Ministry in spiritual direction from the Graduate Theological Foundation and has represented the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis with the World Council of Churches and the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity.
She has recently been a featured speaker with FutureChurch, Team Initiation, Catholic Women Preach, and the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis. In these events, she has shared on women’s ministry, her experience at the Synod, and how to bring its mission of synodality into parish and ministry life.
Tuesday’s event with Boston College will begin at 1:15pm ET and interested parties can register online.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
