Early Christianity was a religion of the underdog, beloved by women, slaves, and the dispossessed.

In its first centuries, half the churches were founded by women. Frescoes in the Roman catacombs depict images of women in priestly garb offering the Eucharist. Much of this changed when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 381 and adapted itself to Roman hierarchy and power structures. But researchers like Ute Eisen and Dorothy Irvin have uncovered widespread evidence of women priests in both Eastern and Western Churches from the third to the ninth century, suggesting that women held on to their power for centuries after this shift.

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