Arizona's Catholic bishops and other Catholic opponents of the death penalty spoke out against the June 8 execution of Frank Atwood, just as they did for the May 11 execution of Clarence Dixon, another Arizona death-row prisoner.
Catholic leaders expressed disappointment with a June 6 ruling by a federal judge in Oklahoma calling the state’s three-drug lethal injection method constitutional.
"In Melissa's case, we see clearly how deeply flawed our capital punishment system is, and how it places innocent lives at risk."
Catholic leaders were thankful that death-row inmate Melissa Lucio was granted a last-minute stay of execution April 25.
Soon after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution for death row inmate Melissa Lucio on April 25, the bishops of Texas both commended her religious conversion, and lamented a flawed justice system that resulted in a “dubious” conviction.
Conor McBride, who shot his fiancée, says restorative justice was the hardest thing he's ever had to do.
"Arguably every step along Christ’s Passion begs us to reckon with the modern system of capital punishment."
Texas Catholic bishops joined a broad coalition of faith leaders, Latino organizations, anti-domestic violence groups and the Innocence Project in urging state leaders March 22 to commute the death sentence of Melissa Lucio and conduct a meaningful review of her case.
The prelates called her confession "forced" and questioned who would be healed by her execution.
The Catholic Mobilizing Network has introduced a new podcast, “Encounters With Dignity,” available on many popular podcast platforms.
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