Paul Dionne

The Priestess and the Pope Paul Dionne

The Priestess and the Pope weaves a powerful narrative with telling historical details, revealing for readers the crucial leadership role women played in the formation of the early church, which has long been hidden from the public eye. In the year 495, Pope Gelasius issues an epistle demanding that outlying churches cease the practice of ordaining women as priests. Samuel, a young papal aide, is commissioned to deliver the Pope's epistle to a southern Italian church with a long history of both female and married priests. Unbeknownst to the Bishop of Rome, he begins to study in secret the heretical documents he has been ordered to destroy. Under the watchful eye of Anna and Joshua, two married priests, and Maria, a fiery young preacher, Samuel starts down a path that can only lead to a deadly confrontation with Gelasius, or the destruction of church history. Which path he chooses will determine the fate of women in the church.