We would like to share the following reflections on the death penalty in hopes that others will hear the call to stop the cycle of violence and preserve the sanctity of ALL human life from conception to natural death.
Today we live in the myth of redemptive violence. Kill the troublemaker and the problem will be solved. (Abort the unplanned pregnancy, assist the infirm in suicide, execute the criminal, etc.) Jesus was a criminal for a large number of people. To the protectors of the law he was an outlaw, to the defenders of the faith he was a heretic – and even the common people turned on him when they realized he was not the revolutionary they wanted. Jesus stopped the violence by not resorting to violence. Jesus replaced the myth of redemptive violence with unconditional love. He died to show us how. We are called to live out that message.
– From the Catholic Mobilizing Network’s Spring newsletter:
Learn more about the Catholic Church’s teaching and action to end the use of the death penalty in the United States.
A Message from Archbishop O’Brien