All rulers/kings in Europe became Christians. The Roman church had political power to rule and influence every arena of people's lives. Thus, Christianity was being used for economic/political interests as only Christians were allowed to hold political positions and assert political authority. As time proceeds, the emperor and the pope had a political alignment, whereby the emperor had to confirm the chosen pope who is loyal to him. In the same vein, the pope also has to ratify most of the emperor's decision. Hence, both of them and their loyalists enjoyed various economic gains. Pierre asserts that the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church claims the supremacy of the pope and the legitimacy of its bishops and priests through the authority of the pope via the unbroken lines of popes. It is obvious here that patriarchy was the other of the day. .
Thus, women were excluded from the history of Christianity and formation of the church. In this context, women were denied the opportunity to exercise their rights in positions of social, political and religious leaderships. This oppression and discrimination against women which denies them equal rights with men is a clear violation of the rights of women under God's decree of equality for both men and women in Galatians 3:28. And would also be a violation today, under Article 2 of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which stipulates that everyone is entitled to equal rights and freedoms without distinction of any kind e.g. sex, religion etc. Despite God's declaration of equality, it is crucial to note that the Roman Catholic Church for centuries continues to uphold this disabling ideology of the domination and subordination of women, even though it out-rightly contradicts scriptures which ought to have been the church's guidebook. It is glaring that most of Roman Catholic doctrines for example; the Canon Law emanates from men's traditions yearning to oppress others - women.
