“We’ve got a serious road to cross to get to that point where we can have a definitive dialogue on the death penalty,” he told CNA in an interview.
Rivas previously worked on the staff of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on criminal justice issues and the bishops’ campaign to end the death penalty. Drawing on this experience, he said that revisiting individual executions is “a very difficult proposition.”
“No prosecutor in the U.S. has ever admitted to making a mistake when executing somebody.”
He suggested that for the purposes of persuasion the better path for death penalty abolitionists is not to focus on individual cases but rather on the “inherent flaws in the system.”
Otherwise, he said, “almost every single time, it becomes about that person and case rather than the overall system.”
The Texas bishops have not taken a position on the Willingham case. Rivas described it as “a tough situation.” The relevant forensic evidence was “strongly disputed” but it was still difficult to arrive at the point of judging a person to be “definitively innocent,” he said.
Public sentiment in Texas still runs strongly in favor of capital punishment -- including among Catholics.
Rivas recalled working to prevent the passage of “Jessica’s Law,” in 2007. The law toughened penalties for child sexual abuse and authorized use of death penalty for certain sex crimes against children. Talking to legislators was “like talking to a brick wall,” he said. In the end, only a handful voted against it.
“Here in Texas, it’s not a partisan issue. Everybody needs education on this issue and needs to know what the Church teaches.
“Our teaching is that life is a precious gift from God. We’re made in God’s image,” Rivas explained. “No matter what we do, the dignity and beauty of this gift is never diminished. Our position is that life should always be protected, whenever possible.”
Rivas added that the Texas bishops’ efforts are focused on starting a dialogue to “help change people’s minds, even people who sit in our pews.”
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