Published in 2017, Redemption and Restoration is a comprehensive exploration of restorative justice though a Catholic perspective. It aims at equipping Catholics to participate in the national conversation surrounding the need for criminal justice reform and restorative justice, to create the programs needed to assist in healing the harm caused by crime, and to restore communities in a way that embraces the spiritual dimensions of healing and hope.

It comes seventeen years after the publication of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ pastoral statement on restorative justice: Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice.

Redemption and Restoration develops the traditional Catholic understanding of justice, offers a theological understanding of restorative justice, explains how it can be implemented, and reflects on the practical arguments for restorative justice. Grounded in the stories of real people, Redemption and Restoration helps readers gain a deeper understanding of how this affects us all as a country and a church. It includes discussion questions to engage groups in exploring issues related to restorative justice.

Edited by Trudy D. Conway, David Matzko McCarthy, PhD, and Vicki Schieber. 306 pages.

Reviews

“It is vitally important that we cultivate compassion and mercy in our relationships with one another and with those on the margins. We must stand with our brothers and sisters who know the deep wounds of crime and incarceration and who, too often, are disregarded and forgotten in our society. Restorative justice shows us a path toward true kinship and this book offers great wisdom for how the Church can be a beacon for reconciliation, healing and hope in a hurting world.”

Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, Founder and Director of Homeboy Industries, author of Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion and Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship

“Those of us who work in the criminal justice environment know that it is broken, a system where issues of race, poverty, even geography, ensure that the playing field is anything but equal. We need to change how this system works if we are to end the warehousing and killing of our own citizens. That’s where restorative justice-and this book!-come in. Restorative justice is a powerful tool that transforms our understanding of crime and shifts our focus from “broken laws” to damaged human relationships and the harm done to human dignity.”

Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ, Author of Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocents

“In an era of mass incarceration, the American criminal justice system has become an unforgiving, heartbreaking place where optimism goes to die. Redemption and Restoration offers an inspiring alternative that focuses on restoring victims, protecting the community and providing offenders with opportunity to change. This is a timely and important book that embraces the power of hope and allows for the possibility of reconciliation and justice. One finishes the book with a sense of urgency. We can’t wait any longer to end this war against ourselves, and restore trust and hope to our system of justice.”

Jim Wyda, Federal Public Defender for Maryland

Discover the Book Adaptation: Harm, Healing, and Human Dignity

CMN adapted Redemption and Restoration into a 80-page faith formation resource to help parishes, small groups, and individual believers reflect on the Catholic call to restorative justice.

Click here to learn more about Harm, Healing, and Human Dignity.

About the Editors

Redemption and Restoration was edited by:

• David Matzko McCarthy, PhD, is the Father Forker Professor of Catholic Social Teaching in the theology department at Mount St. Mary’s University. He is the author of Death Penalty and Discipleship: A Formation Guide (Liturgical Press, 2016), co-editor of Where Justice and Mercy Meet: Catholic Opposition to the Death Penalty (Liturgical Press, 2013), and the founding editor of the Journal of Moral Theology.
• Vicki Schieber is a speaker, writer, and ambassador for Catholic Mobilizing Network and co-founder of Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights. As the mother of a murder victim, she is active in murder victim families support groups and a noted advocate for death penalty repeal. She is co-editor of Where Justice and Mercy Meet: Catholic Opposition to the Death Penalty (Liturgical Press, 2013).
• Trudy D. Conway is professor emeritus at Mount St. Mary’s University. She is active in the Catholic campaign against the death penalty and contributes to the educational initiatives of the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty. She is coeditor of Where Justice and Mercy Meet: Catholic Opposition to the Death Penalty (Liturgical Press, 2013).

Watch Redemption and Restoration’s Launch Conference

On Wednesday, April 25, 2018, CMN hosted a conference to launch Redemption and Restoration. Hosted in collaboration with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Liturgical Press, and the National School of Social Service of the Catholic University of America, this conference convened Catholic theologians, national ministry leaders and restorative justice practitioners. Watch the recording of the conference:

Watch Part 1 Here: Criminal Justice System
Bishop Frank J. Dewane opens the day in prayer. Then Trudy Conway, one of Redemption and Restoration’s editors, shares stories from the development of the text and invite us into a journey through each of the three major sections of the book. CMN Executive Director, Karen Clifton moderates a discussion on the criminal justice system, talking with Tim Wolfe and Janine Geske.

Watch Part 2 Here: Responsibility, Restoration, & Reform
Msgr. Stuart Swetland speaks with Dr. Kathryn Getek Soltis, Fr. George Williams, S.J., and Vicki Schieber about the ways in which our Catholic faith and its foundational values of mercy, redemption, and reconciliation call us to this transformative way of living in right relationship with one another.

Watch Part 3 Here: Becoming Agents of Restoration
CMN Director of Restorative Justice, Caitlin Morneau, Joe Cotton, Matt Cuff, and Bill Gaertner discuss how they put this call into action. The group explored opportunities for Catholics to engage with restorative justice practices and criminal justice reform in their local communities.