Catholic Death Penalty Opponents to have Growing Presence in Pro-Life March
Washington, DC - Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN), the national Catholic organization working to end the death penalty and promote restorative justice, joins Catholic advocates throughout the country in lifting up the sanctity of all life at the March for Life. On Friday, January 19, 2018, thousands will gather in Washington, DC for the annual March for Life, an event that celebrates the inherent dignity of the human person.
Karen Clifton, Executive Director of CMN stated, “The March for Life is an important event for our faith that embodies our call to defend life at all its stages. Catholic Mobilizing Network is proud to amplify the message that all life has worth and should be valued.”
Catholic Mobilizing Network will join advocates from around the country who gather for the annual event to call for a world where every human life is considered sacred. Echoing the message of Pope Francis that the death penalty is “contrary to the gospel,” Catholic Mobilizing Network views its presence at the March for life as a core element of the Church’s consistent pro-life teaching.
“Life faces many threats in this country, and the use of the death penalty is a very public example. The Church opposes any actions that deny any person their intrinsic God-given dignity,” Clifton remarked.
Friday’s March for Life falls in the shadow of Thursday’s planned execution of Anthony Shore in Texas and precedes two additional executions planned in Alabama and Texas before the end of this month. Catholic Mobilizing Network hopes the March for Life will galvanize people of faith to engage in ending the death penalty for good.
“As our society increasingly addresses violence with more violence, we must find ways to restore life rather than destroy it,” Clifton declared.
Clifton further emphasized the importance of the work to end the death penalty, “The death penalty is an egregious affront to human dignity and stands in contradiction to our pro-life values. Catholic Mobilizing Network urges all Catholics and people of goodwill to join us in this work of life. Join the nearly twenty thousands people of faith who have signed the National Catholic Pledge to End the Death Penalty and educate, advocate, and pray for an end to the death penalty.”
More information about Catholic Mobilizing Network, as well as the National Catholic Pledge To End the Death Penalty can be found at catholicsmobilizing.org.
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Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN), working in close collaboration with United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and as a sponsored ministry of the Congregation of St. Joseph, proclaims the Church’s pro-life teaching and prepares Catholics for informed involvement in the public debate to end the death penalty and promote restorative justice.
