Editorial
Death penalty:
Catholic Church speaks against it
A writer to the Catholic Herald Mailbag this week urges the state bishops to speak out against the death penalty referendum, as they have spoken on the issues of embryonic stem cell research and the definition of marriage.
The Catholic bishops in our state through their public policy arm, the Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC), have been in the forefront of opposition to the death penalty in our state. John Huebscher, WCC executive director, gave oral and written testimony opposing the advisory referendum on re-instating the death penalty in our state [see article about action alert].
Unfortunately, his words were not heeded. The advisory referendum will be put before state voters in November.
Bishops speak out. The state Catholic bishops are planning to write a letter urging defeat of the referendum, just as they are supporting the constitutional amendment defining marriage between one man and one woman. Their advice will be "no" on the death penalty, "yes" on marriage.
Such issues as embryonic stem cell research, the definition of marriage, and the death penalty are important moral issues facing our society today. The bishops and all Catholic citizens have not only the right but the responsibility to share our perspectives on these issues. In fact, if we do not speak out but remain silent, we will NOT be living out our duties as faithful citizens of our state and nation.
Long tradition. Wisconsin abolished the death penalty in 1853. We live in the state with the longest unbroken tradition of no capital punishment. Since 1974, the bishops and the U.S. Catholic Conference have issued statements and documents expressing opposition to capital punishment. In 2005 the U.S. bishops said it "is time to turn away from a deeply flawed system of state-sponsored killing toward a way of protecting society and punishing the truly guilty that reflects society's best values."
The Catholic bishops promoted opposition to capital punishment last year with a "Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty." This campaign asked people to pray for victims of crimes and their families and to reach out to support them. It also called for educating people about church teaching on the death penalty and criminal justice; working for legislation to end capital punishment; and changing the debate in favor of defending life.
Why oppose death penalty. The bishops gave these main reasons why we should oppose the death penalty: there are other ways to punish criminals and protect society; the application of capital punishment is deeply flawed and can be irreversibly wrong and it is prone to errors and often biased; state-sanctioned killing diminishes all people; the penalty of execution undermines respect for human life and dignity.
As the Wisconsin Catholic Conference points out, our state's rejection of the death penalty has not compromised public safety. Wisconsin's homicide rate is far lower than many states that have the death penalty.
We must work to defeat the advisory referendum on the death penalty in Wisconsin by speaking out against it and by voting in November.
Mary C. Uhler
Mailbag
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Madison, WI 53744-4985
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Admires Ben Kessler's courage
To the editor:
While I have never written to the editor before, I felt that this time I had to respond.
I commend you for the editorial in the June 15 issue and I wish there was some way I could send Mr. Ben Kessler a message directly. I would like to express my admiration for his courage and to thank him for his courage in addressing the problems as he saw them. I sincerely hope that he continues to exhibit this courage and my prayers will be with him as he continues toward the priesthood.
I also commend the University of St. Thomas for having the rules mentioned but am dismayed at the reaction of Fr. Dennis Dease to Kessler's actions. His reaction reminds me of an incident that happened recently at Notre Dame in which the president of that school caved in to the politically correct crowd. I am concerned that the Catholic universities in this country will not always adhere to policies of our beloved Church and to the teaching of the Holy Father.
Bob Joachim, Madison
Speak out on death penalty, too
To the editor:
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Related article:
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Now that Bishop Robert C. Morlino and Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan have asked the Wisconsin governor to curtail stem cell research and our newspaper has suggested contacting our representatives in congress regarding the marriage amendment, it is justified that our paper and bishops ask our state legislature to stop their efforts to allow the death penalty in Wisconsin. The Roman Catholic Church opposes capital punishment and our legislature should be reminded of that in no uncertain terms.
John Murphy, Madison
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