I don't think that St. Paul or any of the other Apostles would have opposed the Church's patriarchal organization. St. Paul says, in his first letter to the Corinthians, that "the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says." He also says that "every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved." Finally, he points out that "if they [women] wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church."