Hope Over Death Blog
Join us as we uplift the lived experiences, ministerial examples, and spiritual reflections of those working to promote restorative justice and end the death penalty.
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CMN’s Spring Travel & Expanding Collaborations
Most often, CMN engages with our network of supporters virtually. From digital advocacy, to webinars, emails, blogs, and social media posts, this virtual engagement…
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5 Resources for National Crime Victims’ Rights Week 2024
National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is an annual commemoration reminding us of the widespread need for victim-centered responses to harm, crime, and violence. We’ve selected five resources for you to explore this week to honor, support, and pray with crime victims and their families as they continue on their journeys of healing. [VIDEO] Healing After…
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We watched “Shelter in Solitude.” Here’s what we thought.
Shelter In Solitude is a 2023 movie that tells the story of an unlikely friendship formed between a country singer turned prison guard and a man on death row. In a matter of days, Jackson is going to be executed. At first, we don’t know why he’s on death row. But we do know that…
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Catholic Sisters: Celebrating Tradition, Changing the World
A Celebration of Catholic Sisters Week 2024 This year during Catholic Sisters Week (March 8-14, 2024), we celebrate the role of Catholic sisters in CMN’s founding, as well as the thousands of sisters who are helping us end the death penalty, advance justice, and begin healing. Catholic Sisters have always been treasured collaborators in CMN’s…
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“The Tools” by Zuri Davis
In her poem “The Tools’” Zuri Davis, who was a runner-up in the 2022 Justice & Mercy Poetry Contest for Young Adults, confronts readers with the harsh reality of violence inflicted on generations of Black individuals, perpetuating cycles of trauma to this day. As we come to the end of this Black History Month, we…
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Celebrate #RJWeek with these handpicked restorative justice resources
Restorative Justice Week (#RJWeek), is a global celebration that invites us to join in and lift up the inspiring restorative justice work happening around the world. #RJWeek 2023 is commemorated this year on Nov. 19-25. We’ve handpicked five resources for you to explore this week. Check them out to learn more about restorative justice, dive…
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A Spirituality of Reconciliation Provides Space for Rest
It was summertime at home. It was one of those long summer days where the daylight lingers well past 9pm. And then the summer spoke: Pop. Pop. Pop. As a parent, I have learned to anticipate the question from my sons: fireworks or gunshots? I try to be honest but I also do not…
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5 Years After “Inadmissible”: What a Historic Catechism Revision Meant for Catholic Anti-Death Penalty Advocacy
Catholic Mobilizing Network opened its doors in 2009 with a mission to end capital punishment, grounded in the anti-death penalty teachings of the Catholic Church. Even though these were teachings that the U.S. Church, guided by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, had upheld and amplified for decades, there remained some slight ambiguity. …
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When an Execution Becomes State-Assisted Suicide
Content warning: This post contains references to suicide. Please read with care. James Phillip Barnes is what’s known as a “volunteer” for the death penalty. The state of Florida is scheduled to execute him on August 3, in part because he’s fired his lawyers and waived his appeals. Essentially, he is asking to die. And…
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This priest accompanied Darryl Barwick to his execution. What he saw was a macabre production.
This story was originally published by Catholic News Agency (CNA) on July 4, 2023 and was written by Francesca Pollio Fenton. Darryl Barwick was 19 years old when he killed 24-year-old Rebecca Wendt on March 31, 1986, at her Panama City, Florida, apartment. After watching her sunbathe by the pool, he followed her back to…
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We sat on opposite sides of the execution chamber, but felt the same trauma
This story was originally published by Tulsa World on May 11, 2023. On January 12, 2023, the State of Oklahoma executed Scott Eizember. We will never forget that morning. It seemed that the entire world was swirling around us. Repeatedly, we were told where to go. Repeatedly, we were told how to act. Repeatedly, we…
