Florida Bishops Urge Rethinking of Death Penalty

This article appeared in today’s Zenit email collection of articles.  Zenit is an outlet for Vatican news and has a global audience. 

http://www.zenit.org/article-23026?l=english

Ask Governor to Halt Execution of Child Murderer

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, JUNE 26, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Nine bishops of Florida sent a letter to Governor Charlie Crist urging him to stop executions in Florida, beginning with the scheduled execution of Mark Dean Schwab next week.

“We can never fully comprehend the pain the victim’s family feels after losing their loved one and we extend our sincere sympathy to the family of Junny Rios-Martinez, the victim in this crime,” the bishops acknowledged in the note sent Wednesday.

Schwab was convicted in 1992 of raping and killing 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday evening.

“But killing someone because they killed only perpetuates violence and coarsens the public’s attitude about the sanctity of life, including the lives of those who have committed grave offenses,” they added.

The bishops’ letter acknowledged the right of the state to impose the death penalty, but urged the governor “to join the growing number of states who are re-examining the death penalty as a means of punishing those convicted of capital offenses.”

The prelates explained: “In 1991, a Florida Supreme Court study commission found ‘the application of the death penalty in Florida is not colorblind.’ Almost 10 years later, the Governor’s Task Force on Capital Cases recommended reforms, many of which have not been implemented.

“As recently as 2006, the Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team, working with the American Bar Association, released their report citing serious problems in Florida’s death penalty system. The recurring question of innocence, the exorbitant cost, the inconsistency in sentencing, and the capriciousness of who is executed, each calls for re-examination.”

New standard

“You can set a new standard of respect for life in Florida, turning away from execution and imposing a life sentence without possibility of parole for Mark Dean Schwab,” the bishops told Goverenor Crist. “Incarceration allows the wrongdoer the possibility of conversion and the ability to make public restitution for crimes through life imprisonment.”

“As we pray for Junny Rios-Martinez and his family,” the note said, “we pray also for you, as well as for those on death row, that we all will acknowledge God as the Lord of Life, and that we all may learn, not only to obey the commandment not to kill human life, but also to revere it.”

The letter was signed by Archbishop John Favalora of Miami, Bishop Victor Galeone of St. Augustine, Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, Bishop John Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Bishop Gerald Barbarito of Palm Beach, Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, and auxiliary bishops Felipe Estevez and John Noonan, both of the Archdiocese of Miami.

© Innovative Media, Inc.

 

Catholic Bishops of Florida Urge Governor Crist to Halt Executions

http://www.flacathconf.org/Publications/pressreleases/Prsrel08/Schwab6-26-2008.htm

For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 26, 2008

Tallahassee – The bishops of Florida delivered a letter to Governor Charlie Crist urging him to stop executions in Florida, beginning with the July 1, 2008 scheduled execution of Mark Dean Schwab. Click here for full text of letter.

While praying for the victim, Junny Rios-Martinez, and recognizing the inability to fully grasp the pain experienced by the victim’s family, the bishops lament that taking the life of another who has killed perpetuates violence as a solution. 

“The Lord commands us to forgive, just as our heavenly Father has forgiven us.  It is only through the process of forgiveness that we are healed and our suffering can be alleviated,” said Bishop Victor Galeone, Episcopal Moderator for the State Pro-Life Coordinating Committee of the Florida Catholic Conference and bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine

The bishops call on Governor Crist to set a new standard of respect for the sanctity of all life in our state. Sheila Hopkins, Associate Director for Social Concerns/Respect Life, said, “More and more states in our nation are taking a second look at the use of the death penalty as a form of punishment.  Over the years, studies within our own state have reported an inequality and inconsistency in who receives a death sentence”.

http://www.flacathconf.org/Publications/pressreleases/Prsrel08/Schwab6-26-2008.htm

 

July 1st Vigil opposing the execution of Mark Schwab

Florida’s next execution has been set for July 1st.

A decision to kill caused this terrible tragedy…
more killing cannot repair the damage done.

As members of Pax Christi Florida witness against the execution of Mark Dean Schwab and all state-sponsored killings, we are ever mindful of the unimaginable pain and suffering which the family of Junny Rios-Martinez continues to endure. Please keep the family and friends of this 11-year old victim in your thoughts and prayers.

Florida is one of five states that contribute to more than 65% of the nation’s executions.

After a seven-month moratorium executions have resumed in Florida. As Catholics and as citizens of this state, we are compelled to voice our unequivocal opposition to this practice of State sponsored killing.

Florida’s Catholic Bishops have concurred that the death penalty has been discriminatory toward the poor, the indigent and racial minorities. In their position statement released in January 2002, they stated,

“Capital punishment contributes to the escalating atmosphere of violence in our society and undermines belief of the inherent worth and dignity of human life.”

Take Action! Join Pax Christi Palm Beach in an execution vigil in front of the St. Ignatius Loyola Cathedral (9500 N. Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens) on Tuesday, July 1st from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. during the execution of Mark Dean Schwab currently scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.

Resources Available: (more will be added)

• July 1st VIGIL Flyer
• Florida Catholic Conference Death Penalty Facts (pdf)

For more information, contact Beth Cioffoletti at shoofoolatte@gmail.com . 561-626-6520

The Death Penalty – “Nothing to Commend It”

Here is a link to an article by Father John Dear S.J. in the National Catholic Reporter:

Abolish the Death Penalty Now!
National Catholic Reporter

Capital punishment can claim nothing to commend it. It will not bring healing or justice or restitution. It offers no hope for a nonviolent society. It reinforces the heart-rending cycle of violence; it lays the burden of yet another murder. Execution gives death as social purpose ever greater sway. When a nation decides who lives, who dies, it becomes small potatoes indeed for it to manipulate who enjoys full civil rights, who doesn’t, who partakes of the fat of the suburbs, who subsists in the crumbling cities. And of course who goes off to war to fatten the American way of life, and who remains home to pluck the fat fruit and pursue affluent careers.

…

Whenever I travel to Europe, the people I meet loquaciously express dismay at American notions of justice. Especially in Italy. Catholic groups in Italy regularly hold conferences and prayer vigils against our capital punishment. Every time someone is executed, the lights of the Coliseum in Rome are illuminated all night. Here is a symbolic gesture to set us blushing, a censure lighting the dark: namely, American jurisprudence bears resemblance to that of the savage Roman Caesars’.
~ John Dear, S.J.