Dale Recinella
Brother Dale Recinella is a longtime death row chaplain in Florida. He is the author of several books, including When We Visit Jesus in Prison: A Resource Guide for Catholic Prison Ministry, Now I Walk on Death Row: A Wall Street Finance Lawyer Stumbles into the Arms of a Loving God, and The Biblical Truth about America’s Death Penalty. In 2021, Brother Dale became the first-ever recipient of the Guardian of Life Award from the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Mr. Recinella has served for over 20 years as a spiritual counselor and Catholic lay chaplain in Florida’s prisons. On behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Florida, in 1998 he began ministering cell-to-cell to the approximately 400 men on Florida’s death row and the approximately 2,000 men in Florida’s long-term solitary confinement. He and his wife, Dr. Susan Recinella, minister as a team during executions: he serving as spiritual advisor to the condemned and his wife serving as a lay minister to the condemned’s family and loved ones. They also minister to the families and loved ones of murder victims.
Mr. Recinella, who received a Masters in Theological Studies (M.T.S.) summa cum laude from Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology (2009) and law degree magna cum laude from Notre Dame University Law School (1976), is a licensed Florida lawyer and has taught international law/business ethics in Europe at St. John’s University at the Vatican (Oratorio) and at Temple University in Rome. His column about respect life, the death penalty and prison ministry has appeared regularly for fifteen years in The Florida Catholic, and he received a Year 2000 Press Award from the Catholic Press Association. In 1997 he was named a University of Notre Dame Exemplar for modeling faith and citizenship in action, and received the Year 2001 Humanitarian Award from the Franciscan Alumni Association. He appears frequently on worldwide Vatican Radio and extensively addresses audiences nationally and in Europe.