Let's not overly romanticize how central the female influence is to the Catholic faith, please.

The rights of Catholic women before Vatican II were about equivalent to the rights of Muslim women in many country today, right on down to covering our heads, veiling, not making eye contact with men, and nun's habits. And to this day, the religious men and women of the Catholic church are required by church law to be celibate for life after taking their vows.

Not exactly what I'd call a positive female influence, thank you very much.