On
December 10, 1998, the Sisters of Saint Joseph announced
a corporate stand against the death penalty.
The corporate stand was promulgated following months of
prayer, education, reflection and discussion. As a group
of Catholic women religious, we oppose the use of the
death penalty for any reason while remembering with compassion
the families of the victims of violent crimes.
The mission of the Sisters of Saint Joseph is to foster
the unity of the entire human family with one another
and with God. We strive to promote a just society where
punishment will be meted out with an earnest desire for
correction rather than retribution. The death penalty
is seen in clear opposition to this mission.
Since 1998, the Sisters of Saint Joseph have worked and
prayed to bring about a moratorium on the death penalty
or to abolish it altogether. Each month an Execution
Alert is sent to our local Social Justice contacts
with the names of both the victim and the person to be
executed with the time and date. As a community, we pray
for that person, for the victim of the murder and their
family and for the family of the person to be executed.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph belong to the For
Whom the Bells Toll campaign. Every time there is
an execution anywhere in the country, a banner is hung
outside the Motherhouse Convent as a reminder to everyone
who passes that state-sanctioned executions diminish all
of us.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph write to prisoners on death
row, attend rallies and vigils, and belong to other anti-death
penalty groups.
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| Anti-Death Penalty Links: |
| Amnesty International - http://web.amnesty.org |
| Death Penalty News - http://people.smu.edu/rhalperi/ |
| Catholics Against Capital Punishment - www.cacp.org |
| Equal Justice - www.quixote.org/ej |
| Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation - http://members.aol.com/fcadp/ |
| National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
- www.ncadp.org |
| New Jerseyians for a Moratorium - www.njmoratorium.org |
| PA Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty
- www.pa-abolitionists.org |
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