Lest the reader assume that Sister Prejean’s work against the death penalty, is the sum total of her story, she spends the final pages of her afterword calling out the places where she sees continued injustices, particularly in the treatment of women and L.G.B.T. people in the church.

Like Mary of Magdala, women who gave homilies had experienced a deep call and felt commissioned to share the good news.

Three years ago, Pope Francis elevated the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene, on July 22, to a feast day. To help better appreciate the gifts that women bring to the church, it is time to further elevate the feast day to a solemnity.

The tumult in Catalonia continues. Many Catalans wonder what the future holds for their community. Among them is a rabble-rousing Benedictine nun, Sister Teresa Forcades, one of the most recognizable voices within Catalonia’s independence movement.

“We have to admit that things move very slowly in the church,” Sharon Holland, I.H.M., told America, “But this is a piece of really good news.”

Almost 30 years ago, congregations of Catholic sisters in the United States split into two groups: the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and a newly-formed group that would become the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious.