Catholic Mobilizing Network Invites Catholics to Stand for All Life during Respect Life Month
Catholic Mobilizing Network Invites Catholics to Stand for All Life during Respect Life Month
“Our task as Catholics to lift up the dignity of all life, including those who commit great wrongs.”
Washington, DC – Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN), the national Catholic organization working to end the death penalty and promote restorative justice, joins Catholics across the nation in observing Respect Life Month this October. With a glaring five executions scheduled this month, CMN invites all to lift up the dignity of all life and to work to end the death penalty.
“Respect Life Month calls us to deeper reflection on what it means to be consistently pro-life,” Karen Clifton, Executive Director of CMN stated, “Our task as Catholics is to lift up the dignity of all life, including those who commit great wrongs.”
In the backdrop of Respect Life Month, five executions are scheduled to take place in Florida, Alabama, and Texas this month. Included in these executions are circumstances which reveal the egregiousness of death penalty in this country: claims of innocence, mental and intellectual impairment, childhood trauma, and situations of poor legal defense and non-unanimous juries.
“This series of executions scheduled throughout October compels us to give renewed attention to the death penalty this Respect Life Month,” Clifton remarked. “These executions are a stark reminder that the death penalty violates our commitment to the dignity of all life. The death penalty is a failed practice that perpetuates the cycle of violence, and often targets the poor and vulnerable.”
In honor of Respect Life Month, Catholic Mobilizing Network encourages all Catholics and people of goodwill to sign the National Catholic Pledge to End the Death Penalty. Launched by CMN earlier this year, the initiative lifts up the call of Pope Francis and invites people to educate, advocate, and pray to end the death penalty. Signed by dozens of prominent Catholic leaders such as Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Sr. Norma Pimentel MJ, Bishop Felipe J. Estévez, and Helen Alvare, the Pledge is a vitally important initiative in the Church’s mission to be consistently pro-life.
“The National Catholic Pledge to End the Death Penalty lifts up the call of the Church, the last three Popes, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to respect all life and end the use of the death penalty,” Clifton proclaimed. “As our society continues to address violence with more violence, we must take a stand for life. Respect Life Month challenges us to build a culture of life. Working to end the death penalty is a vital aspect of that task.”
Catholic Mobilizing Network hopes Respect Life Month serves as a time of deeper engagement and participation in the work to end the death penalty. “This October, we are invited to raise our voice for the dignity of all life and advocate for responses to harm that also allow for restoration and reconciliation,” Clifton explained.
More information about the National Catholic Pledge to End the Death Penalty as well as Catholic Mobilizing Network 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.