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Parish Resources on the Death Penalty

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Parish Resources on the Death Penalty Parish Resources On The Death Penalty Prepared by: Human Rights Commission Diocese of Toledo 2008 3/11/2008 1 Table of Contents Resources for Death Penalty Education in Parishes Introduction of Packet by HRC explaining Packet of Materials 3 Informational Bulletin Fill-Ins 4 Ideas for Use in Initiation, Preaching or Religious Education 7 Prayer Resources 15 Litany for an End to the Death Penalty A Service of Hope: A Prayer Service on the Occasion of an Execution Prayer Vigil for Victims of Gun Violence A Vigil of Witness against Capital Punishment: Signing the Declaration of Life Additional Recommended Resources 30 Books Catholic Resources/Documents Videos Speakers Websites 3/11/2008 2 Greetings of Peace! This packet is intended to provide parishes with a set of resources and tools to educate and inspire our communities to look at how we think about the death penalty and study what the Catholic Church teaches on the issue. In recent years the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops has taken a public stand to end the use of the death penalty. Included in this packet are some basic resources from the Catechism, Encyclicals, our bishops’ statements and the Catholic social tradition. We have put together homily helps, short bulletin inserts, sample prayer services, and additional resources to aid you in reaching out to your parish community. If you have questions or would like additional information, feel free to contact the Diocesan Human Rights Commission through Ms. Germaine Kirk, Diocesan liaison to the Human Rights Commission: 419 – 244-6711, ext. 431 or [email protected]. Peace of Christ, The Diocese of Toledo Human Rights Commission CHAIR: Tom McDonald, PAST CHAIR: Sr. Sharon Havelak, VICE CHAIR: Lynne Lukach, SECRETARY: Louise Sarra COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Diane Frazee, Kitty Kruse, Cathy Manghelli, Sr. Paulette Schroeder FORMER COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Erin Battistoni, Dr. Sharon Heuschele and John VanDerLaar 3/11/2008 3 INFORMATIONAL BULLETIN FILL-INS The following excerpts from various documents are designed to be used in bulletins. This is a simple but effective way to help Catholics learn about the Church’s teaching on the death penalty. Below a sampling of quotes are provided for your reference. The Compendium of Catholic Social Doctrine is also an excellent place to draw from for quotations. Providing a range of quotations over time can help build the interest and deepen the understanding of parishioners. 3/11/2008 4 The efforts of the state to curb the spread of behavior harmful to people’s rights and to the basic rules of civil society correspond to the requirement of safeguarding the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and the duty to inflict punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense. Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced by the offense. When it is willingly accepted by the guilty party, it assumes the value of expiation. Punishment then, in addition to defending public order and protecting people’s safety, has a medicinal purpose: as far as possible, it must contribute to the correction of the guilty party. -Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, No. 2266 Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm – without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself – the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically non-existent.” -Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, No. 2267 Pope John Paul II asserted that punishment “ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today, however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.” -- Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae), no. 56, 1995. The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of life in every situation. A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without…denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal I made…for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary. --Pope John Paul II, January, 1999, St. Louis, Missouri 3/11/2008 5 We oppose capital punishment not just for what it does to those guilty of horrible crimes but for what it does to all of us as a society. Increasing reliance on the death penalty diminishes all of us and is a sign of growing disrespect for human life. We cannot overcome crime by simply executing criminals, nor can we restore the lives of the innocent by ending the lives of those convicted of their murders. The death penalty offers the tragic illusion that we can defend life by taking life. --USCCB, A Good Friday Appeal to End the Death Penalty, 1999 Capital punishment is cruel, unnecessary, and arbitrary; it often has racial overtones; and it fails to live up to our deep conviction that all human life is sacred. Our witness to respect for life shines most brightly when we demand respect for each and every human life, including the lives of those who fail to show that respect for others. The antidote to violence is love, not more violence. --USCCB, Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration, 2001 Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, each person’s life and dignity must be respected, whether that person is an innocent unborn child in a mother’s womb, whether that person worked in the World Trade Center or a market in Baghdad, or even whether that person is a convicted criminal on death row. We believe that every human life is sacred from conception to natural death. --USCCB, Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility, p.13; November 2003 Today, there is a serious re-examination of the death penalty—its fairness and effective- ness, its social and moral dimensions. We renew our common conviction that it is time for our nation to abandon the illusion that we can protect life by taking life. Ending the use of the death penalty would be one important step away from a culture of death toward a culture of life. -USCCB, A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death, 2005 In Ohio and elsewhere, offenders who kill a white person are twice as likely to be sentenced to death than if they kill a person of color. Additionally, the death penalty is more expensive than life imprisonment. The cost of a single death penalty case from arrest to execution ranges from $1 million to $7 million. The average cost for life imprisonment in Ohio is around $500,000. --Catholic Conference of Ohio, 2006 Fact Sheet Instead of extending the “culture of death” further across our society, we urge our fellow citizens to heed the words of Jesus, who ordered His follower to return his sword to its sheath (John 18:12). --Wisconsin Catholic Conference, A Letter to Catholics in Wisconsin on the Death Penalty from Most Rev. Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of Milwaukee, Most Rev. Robert Morlino, Bishop of Madison; Most Rev. Raphael M. Fliss, Bishop of Superior; Most Rev. David Zubik, Bishop of Green Bay; Most Rev. Jerome Listecki, Bishop of LaCrosse, November 2006. 3/11/2008 6 IDEAS FOR USE IN INITIATION, PREACHING, OR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION In their document Communities of Salt and Light: Reflection on the Social Mission of the Parish, the U.S. Bishops state: The Church teaches that social justice is an integral part of evangelization, a constitutive dimension of preaching the Gospel, and an essential part of the Church’s mission. Mary Birmingham, in Word and Worship Workbook for Year A writes, "If this is true, it follows that justice is at the very heart of the Gospel. The Hebrew understanding of justice (hesed) is right relationship. To be in right relationship with God means that one must show care and concern for God’s anawim—the poor, the powerless, widows, orphans, and the marginalized” (p. 3). We invite you to examine the attached Scripture references through the lens of the death penalty issue. Admittedly, the death penalty is a hard thing to look at, because for many people it is a very emotionally charged issue. Others may be uncertain where they stand on this issue. Our culture takes us in one direction, but Christ calls us in another direction. The following notes are some reflections on Scripture that can be used for ministry in the initiation process, in preaching, and in religious education. As we begin to read the scriptures in light of the social teachings of the Church we are sure to find many more passages that challenge our view of the world and our relationship with God, others and creation.
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