The U.S. is sadly unique among developed Western countries in that we still regularly execute people. In 2019, capital punishment was in the political headlines as the Trump Administration announced the reinstatement of federal executions in July, which had been on hold since 2003. On the other hand, California governor Gavin Newsom suspended the death penalty in his state in March. During the summer of 2018, Pope Francis announced the Catechism of the Catholic Church would be revised to no longer allow for the death penalty in any circumstance.
This podcast features two Catholics helping to lead the charge against the death penalty in the U.S. including Executive Director of Catholic Mobilizing Network Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy and Fr. George Williams, S.J. who serves as Catholic Chaplain and Death Row Chaplain at San Quentin State Prison in California. Both address the ramifications of the death penalty and its critical connection to the Catholic faith.