Equal in faith perhaps, equal in station I think not. Unless the Orthodox have been ordaining women all these years and not telling us. ;-)
SD
I sincerly believe that scripture was put there because of the plain and simple statement it makes, that there is, there is more then one way to find Christ.
It was what brought me out of a brainwashed Church years ago, and you have no idea how many others it may have helped, I think you may be concerned for the people who found it, and left the Catholic Church.
Lk 9:49 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.
V-50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us
How beautiful it is, no matter what some man tells you, Christ will show you another way if you are truly seeking.
Christ said, "Forbid him not" the Catholic Church said, via SD,
We're talking about protecting the brand name and not letting every goofball run around and confuse the people.