Indianapolis, Ind., Oct 7, 2019 / 15:29 pm
Ahead of a scheduled reinstatement of the death penalty for federal inmates, the bishops of Indiana are calling on U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration to reverse the decision.
"The federal government's decision in July to end a 16-year moratorium on executing federal inmates is regrettable, unnecessary and morally unjustified," the bishops said in a joint statement Oct. 4, released through the Indiana Catholic Conference.
In the Catholic Church in the United States, October is celebrated as Respect Life Month, with activities and prayers focused on respecting life from conception to natural death.
"As we observe Respect Life Month in the Catholic Church, we, the Bishops of Indiana, in as much as federal executions are conducted in our State, ask President Trump to rescind the U.S. Justice Department's decision to resume capital punishment later this year. We respectfully implore that the sentences of all federal death row inmates be commuted to life imprisonment."
On July 25, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was making plans to "resume capital punishment after a nearly two decade lapse, and bringing justice to victims of the most horrific crimes."
The statement added that the Attorney General would be directing the Federal Bureau of Prisons to schedule the executions of five federal death row inmates, all of whom have been convicted of murdering, and in some cases also raping or torturing, children and the elderly.