Whether she was unchaste at one time or no, she became one of the most venerated of all women.
only in france. i've never heard that she was venerated anywhere else and have never experienced such.
I am mentioning this because I don't see the link Reding sees in patriarchy and Mary.
you must be blind. the only reason to discount a woman is to put a man above her. "i shall not suffer a woman to preach"? the scripture is very clearly patriarchal although there's evidence that the early church was not.
Besides, there are enough possible reasons for casting Mary as a sinner within the Bible.
all people are sinners. there is no evidence to suggest that magdalene was a whore.