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 correspond with convicted murderer Elmo Patrick Sonnier, held on Death Row in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola. Sonnier had been sentenced to death by electrocution. She visited Sonnier in prison and agreed to be his spiritual adviser in the months leading up to his execution. The experience gave Prejean greater insight into the process involved in executions, for the convict, families, and others in the prison, and she began speaking out against capital punishment. At the same time, she founded "Survive", an organization devoted to counseling the families of victims of violence. Prejean has since ministered to other