WASHINGTON (RNS) — Faith leaders are speaking out against the federal government’s decision to begin executing federal prisoners, decrying the Trump administration’s decision to end a nearly two-decade-long moratorium on the federal death penalty.
The outcry comes as the U.S. Department of Justice carried out its second execution on Thursday morning (July 16), killing 68-year-old Wesley Purkey by lethal injection after he was convicted in 2003 of raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl as well as killing an 80-year-old woman.
Purkey’s death followed the Tuesday execution of Daniel Lewis Lee, who was convicted for his involvement in the killing of a family of three. A third execution was scheduled for Friday. These constitute the first uses of capital punishment by the federal government since 2003.
Faith leaders say the federal government’s use of the death penalty, which resumed after a 2019 push by the Justice Department, is out of step with their faith.
“So much for the ‘pro-life’ administration,” the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author, wrote in a Facebook post. “The taking (of) a life is always immoral. So is the taking (of) a life to punish the taking of another life. This is why the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the death penalty is ‘inadmissible.’ It is an assault on the dignity of the human person and on human life.”
More than…
… Read More
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.