Faces of the week

Our regular look at some of the faces which have made the news this week. Above are MARY MAGDALENE (main picture), with LORD GOLDSMITH, CLAIR WILLIAMS, JOSE MOURINHO and DAVID KOSSOFF.

MARY MAGDALENE

Mary Magdalene will once again take her place in the spotlight for Christian worshippers this Easter.

According to the scriptures, on Good Friday she was at the foot of the Cross when Jesus was crucified.

On Easter Sunday, she visited His sepulchre, finding it empty. After informing the disciples, she remained while they went home.

Her perseverance was rewarded when she met Jesus who told her to spread the word that He was to ascend into Heaven.

Despite her brief, albeit important, role in the Christian religion, Mary Magdalene is one of the Bible's most enigmatic figures. Throughout the ages, her image has changed with the times.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

Over the centuries, she has been depicted as a prostitute, a femme fatale, a muse, a teacher and a preacher. The word "maudlin" derives from her reputation as a tearful penitent.

She used to be referred to as Mary Magdalene: the Sinner. According to a homily by Pope Saint Gregory from the 6th Century, Mary was filled with sorrow over her sin (of being either an adulteress or prostitute or both), anointed Christ, washed His feet with her hair and was exorcised by Him.

Mary Magdalene became the patron saint of reformed prostitutes, perfumers and hairdressers, among others.

But Pope Gregory is thought to have misrepresented the real version of events. Historians suggest that with a largely illiterate population, he had decided that there were too many important figures called Mary in the Bible.

There was Jesus's mother Mary, Mary of Bethany, sister of Lazarus and Martha, and Mary of Magdala (a city near Galilee). Things were too complicated.

Readjustment

So he created a mythical figure comprising the last two and adding to the mix an unnamed adulteress whom Luke mentions as having been saved from stoning by Jesus after repenting her sins.

In so doing, Gregory created an example of the power of Christ's love to save even those who have fallen. She became the role model for those who have erred but who can be saved.

The Protestant and Orthodox Churches never bought this version of Mary Magdalene and, in 1969, the Catholic Church adjusted the record and claimed Gregory's version had been an error and that Mary Magdalene was not and never had been a prostitute.

The Catholic revision repositioned Mary Magdalene as a faithful follower and first witness.

Nevertheless, her fallen woman image has stuck. The Contemporary English Version Youth Bible, published last year, describes Mary Magdalene as having had "something of a dodgy past".

Then there are the artistic depictions of her over the centuries. Her most important role, as the penitent saint, is perhaps best expressed by Carlo Dolci's 17th-century oil painting, The Penitent Magdalen, in which she is portrayed as tearful and haunted.

Leonardo's Last Supper with "Mary Magdalene" next to Jesus

Among 19th-century paintings of her as the femme fatale is Beraud's Mary Magdalen at the House of the Pharisee, where she kneels dramatically at the foot of Jesus while businessmen eat their evening meal.

Modern feminist literature sees Mary as a potent female role model; a possible argument in favour of female priests.

Recently, Mary Magdalene has been a central figure in novelist Dan Brown's worldwide bestseller, The Da Vinci Code.

Brown has combined the interpretation of the Gnostic Gospel of Philip that suggests Mary Magdalene and Jesus had a sexual relationship, with a medieval French notion.

What he ends up with is the Holy Grail as the bloodline descended from Jesus and Mary Magdalene which the Church is supposed to have covered up, along with the female role in Christianity.

'Seven devils'

The hero of the book, an expert in art symbolism, believes that the figure seated next to Jesus in Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper is actually Mary Magdalene.

In reality, Mary Magdalene is mentioned only 12 times in the New Testament and the only suggestion that she might have been a sinner comes from Luke. He describes her as being among a group of women "out of whom seven devils were gone forth".

But Luke doesn't say whether she is to be identified with the "sinner" of the previous chapter.

It would be easy to say that Mary Magdalene has been much maligned over the years. But her image, nevertheless, has remained a positive one, that of a brave woman of substance whom Jesus entrusted to play an important part in the defining moment of the faith.

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LORD GOLDSMITH The British Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, was at the centre of controversy this week when it was discovered that he apparently had a complete change of heart over the legality of the war with Iraq. This emerged in a resignation letter from a civil servant, just made public, which suggested that only 10 days before giving the conflict the green light, Goldsmith felt the war was illegal without a second UN resolution. Opposition parties are demanding an explanation. Full story

CLAIR WILLIAMS The media spotlight was cast on the unlikely figure of Clair Williams this week. As the superintendent registrar of Windsor, it will be her job to marry the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles next month. She has helped a few unnamed celebrities tie the knot in the past but admits this occasion will be "absolutely unique". She is expecting no hitches, saying "I can't see us holding up this one if the photographer's late!" Full story

JOSE MOURINHO Having already been branded a "liar" and "an enemy of football" for his comments about refereeing skulduggery in Chelsea's match against Barcelona, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has now been charged by Europe's governing body UEFA with bringing the game into disrepute. What's more, he also faces a charge of breaching the managers' code of conduct by England's Premier League for allegedly making an illegal approach for rival Arsenal's player, Ashley Cole. Full story

DAVID KOSSOFF The actor, broadcaster and author David Kossoff has died from cancer at 85. Kossoff became well known in the 1950s TV series The Larkins. In the 1960s, he entertained millions of viewers with his Bible stories. After the death of his son Paul, guitarist with the rock band Free, David Kossoff gave more than 350 performances around schools of his one-man show warning of the dangers of drugs. It was called Late Great Paul. Full story

Compiled by BBC News Profiles Unit's Bob Chaundy