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Bishop Estevez's Letter on Capital Punishment Standing Up for the Dignity of all HUMAN LIFE A Pastoral Letter on Capital Punishment in Florida by Bishop Felipe J. Estévez, S.T.D. for the faithful of the Diocese of St. Augustine ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am considerably indebted to Dale S. Recinella for this pastoral letter on the death penalty. Dale has served as a volunteer lay chaplain for more than 20 years in the Diocese of St. Augustine ministering to death row prisoners. I have used his outstanding research in his three books extensively: When We Visit Jesus in Prison: A Guide for Catholic Ministry (Chicago: Acta Publications, 2016); Now I Walk on Death Row: A Wall Street Finance Lawyer Stumbles into the Arms of a Loving God (Bloomington, MN: Chosen Books, 2011); and The Biblical Truth about America’s Death Penalty (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2004). I must also credit our multiple conferences and dialogues and personal visits together with his lovely wife, Dr. Susan Recinella, who collaborates closely with him in his ministry as a chaplain. I am also grateful to Michael Sheedy, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference, for his contribution to the section on the Florida Catholic bishop’s remarkable foresight in advocating on behalf of death row prisoners in the last 50 years. I also thank Father John Gillespie, pastor of San Sebastian Parish in St. Augustine, for sharing his notes on Father René Robert’s ministry to prisoners in the Diocese of St. Augustine, which led to his brutal death. And his death has led to an incredible national and international impact on the culture of non-violence. I am in awe for the witness of many bishops especially, St. John Paul II and John J. Snyder, religious, priests, deacons, and laity whose lives inspired me greatly in my pastoral care to inmates and prophetic advocacy. Bishop Felipe J. Estévez, S.T.D. Tenth bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine 2 Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils“ the breath of life, and the man became a living being. – Genesis 2:7 e are living in a time Let us begin by looking at the life of when the God-given gift Franciscan friar St. Maximilian Maria of human life is under Kolbe. St. Kolbe is usually pictured in W assault. We are immersed a prison uniform with a carbolic acid in a culture of death that seeks to use lethal injection needle stuck into his arm. death as a solution to social, personal He is the patron saint of drug addicts, and financial issues. As a diocese and prisoners and families. through our beautiful parishes, we are responding to this challenge on many In 1941, Kolbe was incarcerated fronts, especially the taking of innocent by the Nazis at Auschwitz. After a human life. The horrors of abortion, concentration camp prisoner escaped infanticide, euthanasia and assisted from Auschwitz-Birkenau, the suicide, for example, are consistently and notoriously vicious and cynical camp energetically confronted and resisted by Kommandant Karl Fritzsch selected the faithful, religious and clergy of our ten prisoners at random to be starved diocese. to death in a cell as retribution. St. Kolbe asked Fritzsch to allow him to And now, we face a more profound replace one of the condemned inmates, challenge in the battle to protect the a stranger to Kolbe. And Kommandant dignity of the human person. We are Fritzsch consented. called to stand for the inviolability and dignity of all human life, even when a In the Polish film of St. Kolbe’s life person whose life is in the balance has and martyrdom, Life for Life: Maximillian made great mistakes, such as taking Kolbe (1991), director Krzysztof Zanussi another’s life. Not even a murderer loses shows an exchange between Fritzsch his dignity.1 and his lieutenant: My hope for this pastoral letter is to Lt: “Can I ask you something?” share with you my understanding of Fritzsch: “I am listening.” the teachings of our church about the intrinsic value and God-given dignity of Lt.: “You reprieved one prisoner. You every human life from conception until replaced one of the convicts with a natural death. We believe that God – volunteer?” and only God – is the author of every Fritzsch: “Do you want to know why? human being, and only God should They all die anyway. But I decide the determine the end of that life. order of their deaths.” 3 dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the United States. It is located at Mission Nombre de Dios, which traces its origins to the founding of St. Augustine – America’s oldest city. The Teachings of our Church Pope Francis has revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2267, to declare that the death penalty is inadmissible in all circumstances.3 But to truly understand this development of teaching, we need to be familiar with the teaching of the church on ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE capital punishment as a life issue before Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. This development has been With no fanfare, this brief dialogue eloquently stated by a major Catholic depicts a fundamental evil propagated figure in the worldwide Right to Life by the Nazi regime – human flesh movement, Charles E. Rice, professor usurping the power of God to decide emeritus at Notre Dame Law School.4 who lives and who dies. Only God may determine the date and time of death. Professor Rice readily acknowledged that before St. John Paul II issued the The life of St. Kolbe and his execution encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel by lethal injection in an Auschwitz cell of Life), he and others “argued for the speak loudly to us as we stand before use of the death penalty on grounds the assault on the dignity of human consistent with the position taken by life through capital punishment. This is St. Thomas Aquinas.” In The Winning especially true in the state of Florida, Side: Questions on Living the Culture of Life, which has been severely criticized the professor does an excellent job of for an execution process that lacks summarizing where the church has been transparency in its clemency.2 No death and where St. Pope John Paul II has row inmate in Florida has been granted led it, and what that means for faithful clemency since 1983. Catholics.5 St. Kolbe had a deep, lifelong devotion Church teaching has traditionally to Our Blessed Virgin Mary, and he is regarded the decision whether to known as the Apostle of Consecration exercise the authority of the state to to Mary. In that spirit, let us consecrate impose the death penalty as, in effect, this effort to end Florida’s capital a prudential judgment subject to a punishment to Our Lady of La Leche, strong presumption against the use who is honored with the first shrine of that penalty. 4 Has the church changed its proclaim, celebrate and serve the affirmation of the authority of the Gospel of life in every situation. A state to impose the death penalty? Or sign of hope is the increasing recognition has it restricted the conditions under that the dignity of human life must never which that authority may rightly be be taken away, even in the case of someone exercised? The answer is: No on the who has done great evil. Modern society first, yes, on the second. has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals … In short, Evangelium Vitae’s the chance to reform. I renew the allowance of the death penalty only appeal I made most recently at “in cases of absolute necessity… Christmas for a consensus to end the when it would not be possible to death penalty, which is both cruel defend society” refers not to some and unnecessary. generalized protection of society by imposing retribution or by deterring This is a very natural conclusion from other potential offenders. Instead, paragraph 56 of Evangelium Vitae (The it refers only to the protection of Gospel of Life): society from this convicted criminal. The final text of the catechism makes This is the context in which to place it explicitly clear that a Catholic can the problem of the death penalty. no longer argue for the death penalty On this matter, there is a growing from an undifferentiated need to tendency, both in the church and in protect society or to promote the society, to demand that it be applied common good. in a minimal way or even that it be abolished altogether. The problem Professor Rice, thus, recognized an must be viewed in the context of a authentic development of the church’s system of penal justice ever more in thinking on capital punishment based on line with human dignity and thus, in the our growing acceptance of the sanctity end, with God’s plan. of life doctrine while accepting the traditional affirmation of its practice in theory. St. John Paul II When visiting our country, St. John Paul II continued to challenge us to discard capital punishment. For example, at his papal Mass in St. Louis, Mo., on January 27, 1999, he said: The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will 5 POPE JOHN PAUL II Not even a murderer“ loses his personal dignity, and God himself pledges to guarantee this. 6 It is clear that for these purposes to death. Not even a murderer loses his be achieved, the nature and extent personal dignity, and God himself of the punishment must be carefully pledges to guarantee this.
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