Women in Christianity the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work in "bringing help to suffering humanity". Much admired by Pope John Paul II, she was beatified in 2003, just six years after her death. Many Christian women and religious have been prominent advocates in social policy debates—as with American nun Helen Prejean, a Sister of Saint Joseph of Medaille, who is a prominent campaigner against the Death Penalty and was the inspiration for the Hollywood film "Dead Man Walking". Linda Woodhead states that, "Of the many threats that Christianity has to face in modern times, gender equality is one of the
Helen Prejean experiences with Sonnier and with the convict Robert Lee Willie. He had been sentenced to death after being convicted of kidnapping, murder in two attacks in May 1980. Sister Prejean also explored the effects of maintaining the death penalty on attorneys, prison guards, other prison officials, and the families of both convicted murderers and their victims. Prejean has worked with other men sentenced to death since then. In December 2010, Prejean donated all of her archival papers to DePaul University. In 1999, Prejean formed Moratorium 2000, a petition drive that eventually grew into a national education campaign, The Moratorium Campaign,