Q: How did you first get involved in death penalty abolition work?

Growing up in Massachusetts, where there was no death penalty, I never thought much about it but when I moved to Virginia in 1988 executions were happening regularly. When I joined the vigils outside of the prison on the nights when executions were scheduled, two things shocked me: seeing a crowd on the opposite side of the street cheering for the execution and actually seeing all the lights go dim as the switch on the electric chair was pulled. I knew then that I was called to deepen my involvement in this issue. I could not be silent.

Q: What happened next?

When my religious community asked me to move to Connecticut and become the Justice and Peace Promoter for the congregation, it only seemed natural to join the efforts to abolish the death penalty there.

Connecticut hadn’t executed anyone in forty years, but Michael Ross, who had been on death row for seventeen years, gave up all his appeals. The law in Connecticut stipulated that once there were no pending appeals, the execution must occur in the next six months. A date was set, and Michael asked me to come and visit him.

One visit led to another, his date was postponed, but he was eventually executed in May of 2005. After several more years — with no executions — Connecticut abolished the death penalty.

Many years later, a friend told me that Catholic Mobilizing Network was hoping to hire a religious sister to animate more sisters to become engaged with their work. I was in transition and it felt like a perfect fit to take all these experiences to an organization like CMN.

Q: You started at CMN during the federal execution spree of 2020-2021. What was that like? What was your role?

As I was beginning at CMN on July 6, 2020, a spree of thirteen federal executions had just been announced — beginning one week later on July 13. At that point, it had been seventeen years since a federal execution had been carried out, so we at CMN had to move quickly to develop a response. We couldn’t just let these executions go forward unnoticed.

We began the practice of hosting Zoom-based vigils to pray for those who were being executed and for their victims and loved ones. When the Federal spree ended, we transitioned to a pattern of hosting a monthly First Friday prayer vigil for anyone scheduled to be executed in the coming month.

Q: Why do you think it’s important for Catholic Sisters to be engaged in this work? What has been most meaningful to you?

In my role as the Religious Engagement Associate, I have had the great joy of engaging with Catholic sisters in so many ways: meeting a sister who has been corresponding with a person incarcerated on death row for twenty years; praying with a group of sisters who organize a vigil each and every time there is an execution anywhere in our country; hearing of communities who toll their bells to mark every execution; talking with sisters who were part of a successful campaign to abolish the death penalty in their state; and receiving generous gifts and grants from religious congregations who are committed to investing in the advancement of our work.

In all of this, and more, these sisters, who are “my sisters,” remind me that although we are experiencing a huge transition in religious life these days, we religious sisters have held tightly to our founding spirit and continue to serve those who are most in need and often most forgotten.

Thank you Sr. Eileen!

The Impact of Religious Engagement

In six years, Sr. Eileen Reilly, SSND has made a significant impact on CMN’s mission through mobilizing women religious across the country to engage in our work of education, advocacy, and prayer. Their engagement has taken many forms including dedicated advocacy, faithful prayer, financial support, involvement in restorative practices, and much more.

In 2025 alone, 742 different sisters sent more than 16,000 advocacy letters to governors and boards of pardon and parole urging them to halt executions and grant mercy to those facing state-sanctioned death.

After settling into her role, Sr. Eileen formed a Religious Engagement Advisory, a council of vowed religious men and women who bring diverse backgrounds, unique experiences, and various points of view to the table. Sr. Eileen says, “The members of my advisory council challenge me and encourage me in this ministry.”

The members of the Religious Engagement Advisory come from California, Indiana, Washington DC, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, and they include eleven different congregations. They are seminary professors, Justice and Peace Coordinators, staff of national Catholic organizations, elected leaders in their congregations, and spiritual companions to men on death row.

Beyond this advisory council, many other Catholic Sisters share their gifts and talents with CMN and in their own communities and ministries to spread the mission of ending the death penalty, advancing justice, and beginning healing.

At our monthly First Friday Prayer Vigils, which Sr. Eileen coordinates, eighteen sisters have offered our Scripture Reflection. Sr. Eileen says “it’s hard to quantify” how many sisters routinely attend this prayer gathering, but we know it’s significant. We are aware that several congregations join the virtual gathering as a group of sisters together.

Just recently, we completed our first dedicated training cohort of our restorative justice program, Conversations in Communion, for 15 women religious. These sisters learned, through the leadership of fellow sisters, about the restorative practice of circle process, and how this model of dialogue can be used to foster deep listening and authentic encounters in their own communities and ministries.

All of this, and so much more, is supported by the financial support of many sisters and congregations — whether that’s a sister who sends $5 each month or the congregation that funds our ongoing work through an institutional grant or a generous gift.

Catholic Sisters: Integral since CMN’s Founding

In 2009, Catholic sisters — including the renowned anti-death penalty advocate Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ — sat at a table with U.S. bishops, family members of murder victims, activists, and prominent Catholic leaders. Together, they dreamed of a lay-led Catholic organization that would amplify our Church’s call to abolish the death penalty.

Their dream gave birth to Catholic Mobilizing Network.

Today, CMN is a proud Ministry of the Congregation of St. Joseph and we see our mission as a way of living out the CSJ’s charism, That all may be one.

CMN is truly where we are today because of Catholic Sisters. As we celebrate this Catholic Sisters Week, and every week, we are incredibly grateful for the persevering and steadfast witness they provide.