There are no official goddesses of Christianity, which is a monotheistic religion with a patriarchal, "father" god. However, the Catholic church has historically allowed room for female saints and Saints' Days that reflect the goddess worship of an earlier time. The iconography of saints and martyrs became a key factor in the schism in the Christian church that ocurred in the 15th century with Martin Luther and others. Many Catholic saints have pagan roots, as early Christian leaders found it easier to absorb and Christianize goddesses when there was no other way to eradicate them entirely. Adaptation became necessary as "a particularly effective means of sublimating the powers of the goddess in patriarchal systems (which) is illustrated in the treatment of Bridget...(a) powerful (Celtic) moon goodess of wisdom...(who) was too popular to be ignored, so she became Saint Bridget...midwife to the Virgin Mary" (Leeming 152). Other popular women (such as Joan of Arc and Catherine of Siena) became saints to prevent their deification by the populace; as long as they were sanctified by the Catholic Church, they could not be idolized in effigy.
In spite of the best attempts by the Catholic church to prevent the worship of Mary Magdalene, a cult of followers emerged very early in Christian history. Many of the so-called "Black Madonnas"
found all over Europe are believed by many historians to be remnants of the cults of Mary Magdalene, which in turn may have been rooted in the worship of Isis carried over from ancient times. Many still believe that Mary Magdalene was actually one of the disciples of Jesus Christ and some cults adhere to the idea that she wrote a "lost" Gospel left out of the official Bible. The Cult of Mary Magdalene is a "complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that began in the early Middle Ages but has persisted into the present despite opposition, often militant, by the established church" (Gadon 213-214).
By far, the dominant female figure in Christianity is that of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The Virgin Mary provided the best example of a "goddess" whose power was stripped by church dogma. Although not officially a goddess, Mary's role is easily recognizable as mirroring that of ancient goddesses, particularly in her role as Mother. 
Ancient rituals involving a goddess and her consort/son are reflected in the story of Mary and her son, Jesus, who is sacrificed, then born again, like "(h)er Near-Eastern relatives (who) are those Earth Mothers whose son-lovers must die for the good of all" (Leeming 154). In Christian tradition, Mary (although she is a mother) is a virgin devoid of sexuality and reduced to the role of a simple Jewish maiden. The Catholic tradition of sainthood and the miracles attributed to the Virgin Mary elevates her to goddess status while denying her the privilege of worship, as compounded by the 2nd Council of Nicea (Halsall 1). Next to Jesus, Mary is one of the figures most represented in art and architecture throughout the past two millennia. Mary's importance to Christianity cannot be denied. She is the representation of the Goddess in a monotheistic world and she is a powerful image that has remained a part of Western Civilization even with the split into several sects of Christianity. She is not formally acknowledged as a goddess, but she fills the role of the missing female aspect of a male deity in a partriarchal, monotheistic world view.
