The Catholic Church observes October as Respect Life Month. For many, abortion is the first topic that comes to mind when respect life is mentioned.
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Respect Life Month is a time to consider more deeply why every human life is valuable and to reflect on how to build a culture that protects life from conception to natural death. This would include abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia and other related issues.
The First Friday Club of Cleveland invited Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, to speak at the group’s October meeting. Her topic was “Ending the Death Penalty and Promoting Restorative Justice.” The program was presented by the Congregation of St. Joseph.
Deacon Paul Kipfstuhl, director of the Catholic Commission of Wayne, Ashland and Medina Counties, part of the diocesan Social Action Office, introduced Vaillancourt Murphy and noted “abolition of the death penalty is a life issue that is near and dear to my heart.” Vaillancourt Murphy leads CMN, which is based in Washington, D.C.
Vaillancourt Murphy explained that CMN is a national organization that mobilizes Catholics and others of goodwill to value life over death, to end the use of the death penalty, to transform the U.S. justice system from punitive to restorative and to build capacity in U.S. society to engage in restorative practices through education, advocacy and prayer. It works closely with the USCCB.
“We always want to build a culture of life,” she said, adding that CMN is working to transform the U.S. criminal legal system into one that values life, hope and healing.
Vaillancourt Murphy told the group that Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ helped inspire her to take up the CMN work. Sister Prejean became the spiritual advisor to a man on death row and after witnessing his execution, wrote a book about the experience, “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States.” She said this affected her so much that she decided to fight the death penalty.
During Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to the U.S., Vaillancourt Murphy helped with some parts of the visit and said she became reenergized about her opposition to the death penalty. Two years later, she was invited to join CMN.
Vaillancourt Murphy provided an overview of CMN, noting its three-pronged approach – education, advocacy and prayer -- to working toward ending the death penalty and promoting restorative justice.
“Our system is broken,” Vaillancourt Murphy said, noting the justice system tends to be more revenge-seeking, much like the old biblical “an eye for an eye” principle.
“Nothing could be further from what Jesus died for,” she said. “He flipped the script when he willingly died for us and he changed things forever.” Yet, many are unaware that the Church has a teaching on the death penalty.
Murphy also noted that the pope reminded us in his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti (On Fraternity and Social Friendship) that nothing is gained by revenge. He also called for a worldwide abolition of the death penalty. According to the pope, “not even a murder loses his personal dignity,” something that God himself pledges to guarantee. He called a life sentence “a secret death penalty.”
The encyclical continued, “The arguments against the death penalty are numerous and well-known. The church has rightly called attention to several of these, such as the possibility of judicial error and the use made of such punishment by totalitarian and dictatorial regimes as a means of suppressing political dissidence or persecuting religious and cultural minorities … All Christians and people of good will are today called to work not only for the abolition of the death penalty, legal or illegal, in all its forms, but also to work for the improvement of prison conditions, out of respect for the human dignity of persons deprived of their freedom.”
Following the pope’s directive, Vaillancourt Murphy said CMN continues to advocate for restorative justice. She called it “a way to be better disciples of a Gospel kind of justice.”
Vaillancourt Murphy said traditional justice looks at what the crime was, who’s guilty and what should the punishment be, whereas restorative justice asks what was the harm, who was impacted and what can be done to make it right.
“Restorative justice seeks to uphold dignity, build relationships, seek healing, promote accountability, advance racial equity and enable transformation,” Vaillancourt Murphy explained. She said the process uses dialogue and is aimed at repairing or preventing harm, aligning it with the Gospel message of reconciliation. “It gives witness to the power of God to change,” she added.
There has been movement with regard to abolishing the death penalty, Vaillancourt Murphy said. The CMN website tracks those on death row and their scheduled execution dates.
Efforts continue in Ohio to abolish the death penalty and to prohibit the execution of those with severe mental illness. She said there are regular prayer vigils to pray for those on death row and the victims of their crimes.
For more information on CMN, click here.
The next First Friday Club of Cleveland program is at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 3 at the City Club, 850 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. The program is “Why, They’re Not Leaving,” a panel discussion featuring three diocesan ministry leaders: Francine Costantini, youth ministry director; Mike Hayes, young adult ministry director; and Terri Yohman, marriage and family life director. Click here for information and a link to register.