The Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty
A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death
Welcome to the Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty. Within this website, you will find everything you need to know about the Catholic Church’s involvement in ending the use of the death penalty.
While the U.S. Catholic bishops have been calling for an end to the use of the death penalty for 25 years, this new Campaign was launched in March of 2005. The first comprehensive U.S. Catholic bishops’ statement on the topic issued in 1980. This campaign, the bishops renew their call in order to seize a new moment and a new momentum. This is a time to teach clearly, encourage reflection, and call for common action in the Catholic community. To that end the bishops have written a new pastoral statement that will clarify Church teaching and assist the numerous individual bishops and state Catholic conferences have issued similar calls to end the use of the death penalty. This unique website has all of this information and more.
For an overview of the current campaign, we urge you to see view our Campaign Brochure. For recent victory on Death Penalty Moratorium Act, see the New Jersey Bishops Statement.
On March 21, the Campaign was formally launched at a press conference held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
At this event, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick , Archbishop of Washington and member of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Policy, Mr. John Zogby , President of Zogby International Polling organization, Mr. Bud Welch , father of an Oklahoma City Bombing victim, and Mr. Kirk Bloodsworth , wrongfully convicted death row inmate.