I am on team for an upcoming Catholic based spiritual retreat. The “Spiritual leader” said that the Holy Spirit is called Sophia and then proceeded to refer to the Spirit as a she. Where would someone get that idea from?
Welcome to the forum @GloGreenup!
I was unsure of whether or not to respond since this is a very deep topic that I would normally want to research extensively. However, since no one has offered an answer, I will (mostly) shoot in giving an answer.
Sophia is one (but not the only) Greek word used for “wisdom” in the Bible. What is interesting is that - in the Old Testament - there are many places wherein Wisdom is discussed as though it is a person (and, yes, with the feminine pronoun “she” being used some of the time).
I am aware that some people have seen these references to Wisdom as being references to the Holy Spirit. However, there is also a long interpretative tradition of seeing the Word (the Son) as the referent in these passages (remember, St. Paul calls Christ the wisdom of God in 1 Corinthians 1, using forms of the word sophia).
While I’m not sure, it is possible that some of the OT passages are not actually referring to a divine person, but that a personification of wisdom is being used a figure in speech. However, I would want to do more research before drawing conclusions in that direction.
It is worth noting that in the New Testament where the identity of the Holy Spirit is revealed more fully, there is no explicit reference to the Holy Spirit as the Sophia of the Old Testament. Nor is there any place wherein feminine pronouns are used for the Holy Spirit. In fact, in one place, St. Paul calls the Holy Spirit “the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:17), a decidedly masculine term.
I am also unaware of feminine pronouns being applied to the Spirit in the context of the liturgy of the Church.
The most important thing to know in this matter: the Holy Spirit is neither male or female. God transcends human sexual differences.