Dear Alejandro,

Thank you for your question.

The Church has not dogmatically given us an answer to either questions but there is some tradition for both.

The Woman in Revelation 12 has four symbolic meanings.

In the context of the preceding verses in Revelation Chapter 12, the Woman is connected to the Ark of the Covenant. Also, remember that the Chapter and verse numbers came much later. They are not part of the original text.

John sees the Ark and then says no more about it. This is very strange because John was a devout Jew and the Ark was the most precious artifact which had been missing for centuries. You would think he would have described it and spent more time on it. In actuality he does. He describes it as Woman. That Woman is Mary.

Just as the original Ark held the written Word, the Manna from Heaven, and the Priestly staff of Aaron; Mary carried in her womb, the Living Word, the Living Bread come down from Heaven, and the Great High Person; all three in the person of Jesus Christ.

The Woman symbolizes both the:

1. Ark, and
2. Mary.

She also represents:

3. Israel, and
4. the Church.

We must remember that John always pointed to signs and symbols in his writing. This is the case in his Gospel as well as in Revelation.

Regarding the Whore of Babylon described in Revelation 17, there are two schools of thought.

1. The most prevalent is that it is the Roman Empire. This assumes Revelation was written after the destruction of Jerusalem. This dating of the text is fairly recent.
   
   
2. I tend to believe the book was written prior to 70 A.D. and believe the Whore of Babylon is Jerusalem.
   
   The Old Testament prophets refer to Jerusalem as a harlot. They compare it to Sodom and Egypt as does John in Revelation. It makes sense because John doesn't include any reference to the coming judgment on Jerusalem in his Gospel where are Matthew, Mark, and Luke all do. It seems John dedicates almost an entire book to this subject.

Hope this helps,

John