Death Penalty

The Latest

US bishops to Trump: 'Enough. Stop these executions'  

Sep 22, 2020

The Catholic bishops of the United States on Tuesday implored President Donald Trump to halt two federal executions set to... Read more

Archbishop Joseph Naumann. CNA file photo.

His own father murdered, Catholic archbishop speaks against death penalty

Sep 6, 2020

The Archbishop of Kansas City is calling for an end to the death penalty.  Read more

USCCB to Trump administration: 'Stop these executions!'

Aug 27, 2020

The U.S. bishops’ conference on Thursday criticized the federal government for its continued use of the death penalty, which the... Read more

Joe Biden at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

The Biden Platform: What Catholics should know

Aug 19, 2020

Joe Biden was officially nominated as the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential candidate on Tuesday evening. With the formalities over, what... Read more

The US Penitentiary at Terre Haute, where Lezmond Mitchell is scheduled to be executed Aug. 26.

Catholics pray for Navajo man scheduled for federal execution

Aug 19, 2020

By Jonah McKeown

Catholics are speaking out on behalf of a Native American man on federal death row, who is set to be... Read more

Cardinal Sean O'Malley.

Boston archdiocese pushes back after Trump says Boston bomber ‘deserves death’

Aug 4, 2020

After President Donald Trump said Sunday that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, perpetrator of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, should be put to... Read more

Rodrigo Duterte.

Catholic leaders reject Duterte’s call to revive death penalty in Philippines

Jul 29, 2020

Catholic leaders in the Philippines have spoken out against President Rodrigo Duterte’s call to reinstate the death penalty for illegal... Read more

Death row in an American prison.

Second federal inmate executed after Supreme Court decision

Jul 16, 2020

The second of five federal prisoners slated for execution was killed in the early hours of Thursday, July 16. Wesley... Read more

First federal execution in 17 years lamented as 'unnecessary and avoidable'

Jul 14, 2020

The federal government executed its first federal inmate in 17 years on Tuesday, following numerous delays and requests for clemency... Read more

Court halts scheduled federal executions

Jul 13, 2020

A federal court on Monday ordered a delay of the first scheduled federal execution in 17 years, along with other... Read more

Death row in an American prison.

Catholic bishops join 1,000 faith leaders to oppose federal executions

Jul 7, 2020

Several U.S. bishops, along with clergy and religious brothers and sisters from around the country, have signed a statement opposing federal executions... Read more

US bishops ask Trump administration to reconsider federal executions

Jul 1, 2020

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has asked the Trump administration to halt several scheduled executions after the Supreme... Read more

Federal executions to resume after Supreme Court denies appeal

Jun 29, 2020

By Christine Rousselle

Federal executions are set to resume in the next two weeks after the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to... 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

Bishop Felipe Estevez. CNA file photo.

St. Augustine bishop calls for end to Florida death penalty

May 28, 2020

By Jonah McKeown

All of Florida’s death row inmates live in the Diocese of St. Augustine. Many are Catholic. At least twice a... Read more

Walter Barton.

Catholics protest Missouri execution of death row prisoner

May 20, 2020

Despite objections from Catholic groups, a Missouri death row inmate died by lethal injection May 19, in the first execution... Read more

Death row in an American prison.

Catholics react to Alabama execution of Nathaniel Woods

Mar 6, 2020

By Matt Hadro

Late Thursday evening, the state of Alabama executed 43 year-old Nathaniel Woods by lethal injection.  Read more

Death row in an American prison.

Tennessee governor denies clemency to death row 'model inmate'

Feb 20, 2020

Nicholas Sutton, 58, was sentenced to death in 1988 after he and another inmate murdered a fellow prisoner.  Read more

Death chamber and electric chair at Sing Sing Prison, New York, 1923.

Opposition to death penalty growing among Republicans, activists say

Jan 21, 2020

By Christine Rousselle

The number of Republican state lawmakers opposed to capital punishment is growing, a conservative group claims, as anti-death penalty activists look... Read more

James Dailey.

U.S. bishops say death row inmate likely innocent, call for new trial

Jan 20, 2020

The U.S. bishops’ conference and the bishops of Florida are calling for a Florida death row inmate to be given... Read more