Pope Francis has raised the celebration of St Mary Magdalene’s memorial to a feast day. Archbishop Arthur Roche, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, announced the change. He said it emphasised “the dignity of women, the New Evangelisation, and the greatness of the mystery of Divine Mercy”. The status of a feast is higher than a memorial, but below a solemnity (such as Corpus Christi or Ss Peter and Paul). The celebrations of the Apostles are feast days, as are commemorations of some other major saints such as St Lawrence. Archbishop Roche noted that St Mary Magdalene was the first witness to the Resurrection, leading St Thomas Aquinas to call her the “Apostle of the Apostles” (Apostolorum Apostola). The archbishop said: “St Mary Magdalene is an example of true and authentic evangelisation; she is an evangelist who announces the joyful central message of Easter.” Whereas Eve “spread death where there was life”, he said, St Mary Magdalene “proclaimed life from the tomb, a place of death”. The archbishop added that the Pope’s decision was also related to the Year of Mercy. “The Holy Father Francis took this decision precisely in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy to signify the importance of this woman who showed a great love for Christ and was much loved by Christ,” he said. In Catholic tradition, St Mary Magdalene is also recognised as the “woman of the city” who came into the house of Simon the Pharisee and washed the feet of Christ with her tears. Christ told Simon: “I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”