Execution

The Latest

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Missouri bishops plead for death row inmate on eve of execution

Apr 8, 2024

By Jonah McKeown

The Catholic bishops of Missouri are urging the faithful to contact Gov. Mike Parson to stay the execution of convicted... Read more

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley preaching during Mass in the cathedral in 2021.

Oklahoma archbishop: Supreme Court review of execution could further cause of abolition

Jan 24, 2024

By Jonah McKeown

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will review the case of an Oklahoma man on death row who... Read more

Archbishop Paul Coakley. Courtesy photo.

Oklahoma City archbishop urges governor to grant clemency to convicted murderer

Nov 10, 2023

By Jonah McKeown

A statewide board in Oklahoma this week narrowly recommended clemency for a man convicted of a double murder more than... Read more

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at a campaign stop in Salem, New Hampshire, on June 1, 2023.

Florida bishops plead with DeSantis to spare life of death row inmate

Jun 2, 2023

By Zelda Caldwell

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops appealed to the governor to grant a stay and commute convicted murderer Duane Owen’s... Read more

Florida Department of Corrections execution chamber 1.

Catholics pray after Alabama executes death row inmate

Oct 22, 2021

By Christine Rousselle

Alabama executed inmate Willie B. Smith III on Thursday evening, Oct. 20, marking the first execution in the state since... Read more

Mitchell Rozanski, then-Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts and current Archbishop of St. Louis, in St. Peter's Basilica, Nov. 7, 2019.

Missouri bishops condemn execution of Ernest Johnson

Oct 7, 2021

By Christine Rousselle

The four bishops of Missouri released a joint statement on Wednesday evening condemning the state’s execution of Ernest Lee Johnson,... Read more

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Missouri executes inmate after Holy See appealed for clemency

Oct 6, 2021

By Matt Hadro

Missouri on Tuesday evening executed Ernest Johnson, 61, an inmate convicted of murdering three people in the 1990s, after the... Read more

Pastor Dana Moore of Second Baptist Church Corpus Christi

Texas death row inmate sues to have pastor’s touch in execution chamber

Aug 13, 2021

By Christine Rousselle

A man scheduled to be executed in early September is suing the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to have his... Read more

Supreme Court stays Texas execution over chaplain dispute 

Jun 17, 2020

The Supreme Court stayed the execution of a man in Texas after the state’s Department of Corrections refused to allow... Read more

Florida Department of Corrections execution chamber.

As Florida execution approaches, bishops urge governor to take pro-life path

Aug 22, 2017

An imminent execution scheduled for this week is the wrong path, said Florida’s Catholic bishops, urging the governor of the... Read more