The Catholic Conference of Ohio welcomed Gov. Mike DeWine’s long-anticipated statement opposing the death penalty, which he released during a press conference on June 16.
“When I voted for reinstatement of the death penalty in 1981, I believed that in some cases, the death penalty could serve as a deterrent. For me, it was the moral justification for having a death penalty,” DeWine said. However, he said he no longer believes that is the case.
The governor also called for lawmakers to pass House Bill 72 and Senate Bill 134, which would prohibit state funding of intentional termination of human life at any stage and circumstance in the state.
In a statement also released on June 16, Brian Hickey, CCO executive director, said the bishops’ group joined DeWine in that request. The first-of-its-kind legislation reinforces the current law banning state funding for abortion, abolishes the death penalty and expands protections against assisted suicide by linking these prohibitions together in Ohio Revised Code.
“We are confident, through the Catholic Church’s teaching, that God does not want the state to execute human beings,” Hickey said in the CCO statement. “… Gov. DeWine is correct that Ohio should not kill human beings, given the flawed system of execution. Ohioans are increasingly recognizing that the death penalty perpetuates a cycle of violence, deprives offenders of rehabilitation and increases costs to the state.”
DeWine, a Catholic, has agreed to delay several executions in the state because of difficulty in obtaining the drugs needed for the lethal injection.
Last month, more than 300 faith leaders across the state, including Catholics, sent a letter to the Ohio General Assembly urging lawmakers to end the death penalty in Ohio. The letter was drafted by Ohioans to Stop Executions. The CCO also sent its own letter to state lawmakers in March, saying, “… In protecting human dignity, we as bishops of the Catholic Church advocate for a consistent ethic in defending the right to life of the preborn, opposing assisted suicide, and fighting to abolish the death penalty. A government that sanctions the destruction of human life through taxpayer funding of abortion, euthanasia, or the use of capital punishment undermines the dignity of those it exists to serve and protect.”
The diocese offered two programs earlier this spring that helped shine a spotlight on efforts to end the death penalty in Ohio. They were presented by the Catholic Charities Diocesan Social Action Office, Catholic Mobilizing Network, the diocesan Secretariat for Catechetical Formation and Parish Life, John Carroll University and Ursuline College.
The CCO, established in 1945, is the official voice of the Catholic Church in Ohio on matters of public policy and government relations. It is the second-oldest bishops’ conference in the country.
Read the entire CCO statement here. Also, click here for more CCO resources related to the death penalty.