Archbishop Vlazny's column in this week's Catholic Sentinel concerns a very important issue which people of faith in Oregon are planning to address together. We are including the column in the hopes that you will read it.
In 2005 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched an ongoing Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty. Thirty-five states have a death penalty; fifteen do not. Oregon voters reinstated the death penalty in 1984. Since then, 73 death sentences have been pronounced but 36 have been reversed. Thirty-one individuals are currently on death row. There are many reasons to oppose the death penalty that are not religious:
- It encourages the idea that violence is an appropriate solution to social problems
- It has, and will continue to result in the execution of innocent people
- It is not an effective deterrent to murder
- It is applied arbitrarily and disproportionately against the poor and minorities
- It diverts resources from effective criminal justice policies
For Catholics, opposition to the death penalty is rooted in our conviction that human life must be respected and protected from the moment of conception and the Church's teaching that "the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically non-existent." (Evangelium vitae 56.) However, Oregon is one of the only three states where the death penalty is written into the state constitution. It can be changed only by initiative or referendum. It will be really important that Catholics throughout the Archdiocese be educated about this important matter. This cause is not new. The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops has opposed the death penalty for more than 25 years. But this Oregon Campaign is now. We need to share our Catholic teaching with courage and clarity. We need to reach out to our teachers and to our parishioners. We need to form and to persuade. We need to be advocates for change. We hope you will be part of this effort.
The Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty.
Archbishop Vlazny's Column.
