Catholic bishops renew drive vs. death penalty: Opposition to executions growing among parishioners
The U.S. Catholic bishops have launched a nationwide campaign against the death penalty, citing new evidence that support for capital punishment is slipping among parishioners.
The campaign, announced during Holy Week when Christians recall Jesus’ state-ordered execution, comes in the wake of two recent Supreme Court decisions that outlawed executions for juveniles and the mentally retarded. “I pray I will see the day when we have given up the illusion that we can teach that killing is wrong by killing people,” said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C.