Advocates around the world celebrate World Day Against the Death Penalty on Friday, October 10.

Throughout the United States, advocacy events, public witnesses, and prayer vigils lead up to the day.

Advocates around the world will celebrate World Day Against the Death Penalty this Friday, October 10, 2025. The annual commemoration is an opportunity to amplify the call for global abolition of the death penalty through education, advocacy, and prayer.

As a people of faith, this day falls squarely within Respect Life Month, also celebrated annually in October, and reminds us that capital punishment is a critical issue that undermines the sacred dignity of life. In response, people of faith and goodwill will host advocacy events, educational forums, and prayer vigils throughout this week and next to commemorate the World Day.

“We are faced at this moment with the challenging reality of eight state executions scheduled in the month of October alone,” says Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, Executive Director of Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN). “It is especially sobering that one of these executions is set to take place on the World Day Against the Death Penalty in Indiana.”

“We work diligently and tirelessly to stop these acts of state-sanctioned death. Even amid this challenge, we do not give up hope. And these events happening this week remind us that  throughout the United States, people are dissatisfied with the death penalty. It does not promote safety. It does not deter crime. And it disregards the dignity of human life,” Vaillancourt Murphy continues.

The most recent data from Gallup’s Annual Crime Survey revealed that public support for the death penalty has dropped to 53%, the lowest it’s been since the 1970s.

Support for death penalty abolition can also be found among the global Church. We just recently marked the 10th anniversary since Pope Francis visited the U.S. Congress and boldly urged the United States to end the death penalty. And Pope Leo XIV recently spoke about capital punishment in an interview, reminding the faithful about the fullness of the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of human life. He said:

“As I myself have spoken in the past, it’s important to look at many issues that are related to what is the teaching of the Church. Someone who says ‘I’m against abortion’ but says ‘I’m in favor of the death penalty’ is not really pro-life.

… Someone who says that ‘I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States’ — I don’t know if that’s really pro-life.

… The church teaching on each one of those issues is very clear.”

This year, CMN’s World Day Against the Death Penalty collaborations include two events with the University of Notre Dame, located in the state of Indiana, which has recently restarted executions after a 15 year hiatus. One co-hosted event is on October 8 with the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights and another begins on October 15 with the McGrath Institute for Church Life.

“I pray that the occasion of World Day Against the Death Penalty during Respect Life Month, and especially within the special celebration of the Jubilee Year of Hope, will invigorate Catholics to lift our voices in opposition to these state executions and this blatant display of a culture of death. I pray that instead, we do our part to usher in hope-filled justice solutions that prioritize healing, accountability, and repair,” says Vaillancourt Murphy.