Women in the Church

Tania Tetlow, president of Loyola University New Orleans, remembers her friend and mentor Cokie Roberts, who passed away on Sept. 17.

The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila is termed an “autohagiography,” a self-justification of saintliness, by Carlos Eire, a professor of history and religious studies at Yale University.

We have to advance the conversation beyond one that limits women to emulating male models but instead understands women and men in relation to one another.

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.