Episcopa Theodora

"Episcopa Theodora"; detail of mosaic

The full mosaic

Episcopa Theodora is the inscription on a 9th century mosaic in the St. Zeno Chapel of the Church of St. Praxedis in Rome. Historically, Theodora was the mother of Pope Paschal I, who built the chapel for her while she was still alive, as indicated by the square halo of the mosaic.

There is contentious debate over what episcopa might mean in reference to this mosaic. Feminist theologians and proponents of the ordination of women point out that, linguistically, episcopa is a Latin feminization of the Greek episkopos, the traditional and biblical term for a bishop. They argue that the Theodora in the inscription is in fact , evidence of the ordination of women in the 9th-century Catholic Church. They also note that the 'a' in the word episcopa was defaced in antiquity, leading to the conclusion that it was understood by contemporaries to indicate her ecclesial status. As a result, many Feminist theologians and proponents of ordination of women use this titular example to argue for the ordination of women in the Roman Catholic Church today.

Some Roman Catholic theologians and Roman art scholars take issue with this argument by pointing out that feminizations of clerical titles have traditionally been associated with the wives and widows of early Christian clergy since the Apostolic Age. It is important to note that wives and widows of clergy in early Roman times were given honorific titles such as Presbytera, Episkopa, and Diakonissa, titles which are still used to this day in deference to the wives of presbyters and deacons in the Eastern Catholic Churches and in Eastern Orthodoxy. Since the Roman Catholic Church previously permitted married bishops many centuries before the discipline of celibate clergy was promulgated, the title Episkopa may refer to the wife, mother or widow of any Christian prelate or bishop, such as Pope Paschal I, her son. Therefore, the title Episkopa was used for the Lady Theodora for her esteemed position as the mother of the Pope, a pious woman who practiced great austerity and religiosity, and not as an ordained bishop.

Feminist theologians and proponents of women's ordination also have claimed that the white coif found in the mosaic of Theodora indicates that she was an unmarried woman. Others argue that the white coif was a symbol of humility, piety and social modesty, and was worn by many women at the time, regardless of marital status.

Although there is no recorded consecrator of Episcopa Theodora due to dubious or spotty historical records, it is necessary to consider that female ordination, if it truly existed in the 9th century, would most likely have been repeated and sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church or the Eastern Orthodox Churches, yet neither permits female ordination to the present day.