Adult Formation Comprehensive Message

TO: ADULT FORMATION EMAIL LIST
FROM: JOCELINE LEMAIRE
RE: MESSAGE FROM TN CATHOLIC PUBLIC POLICY COMMISSION

I AM FORWARDING A MESSAGE I RECEIVED FROM THE TENNESSEE PUBLIC POLICY COMMISSION

Gaile Owens’ execution has been set for September 28, 2010 by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Only the Governor is able to commute her sentence to life in prison. I am not writing to you suggesting you study Owens' case to find her innocent or rightfully convicted. She herself has not denied her role in her husband’s death.
I am writing to ask you to write the Governor of Tennessee and ask that another life not be taken. We are guided by our belief that every person has an inalienable right to life, because each human being is made in the image and likeness of God, who alone is the absolute Lord of life from its beginning until its end (cf. The Book of Genesis 1:26-28).
We acknowledge that the subject of capital punishment is controversial and emotional. All murders are violent and shocking. They all stir emotions of revulsion and anger. We grieve for the victims of murder, for the brutalization and loss of life. We affirm that the state has the duty to punish criminals and to prevent the repetition or occurrence of crime. We believe that greater efforts must be made to bring the criminal to repentance and rehabilitation. We believe that our society is sufficiently developed to protect itself and to redress the injustice caused by the criminal without resorting to the use of the death penalty. One alternative is life without possibility of parole. Proponents of capital punishment assert that those who take the life of another should be punished in kind. This “eye for an eye mentality” underestimates the gravity of interminable confinement.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church acknowledges the right of public authorities to impose criminal punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense, “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person.” Pope John Paul II stated that in today's world cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.” (The Gospel of Life, 56) .
We are asking that you will take just a short time and express your belief to Governor Bredesen that the death penalty is not for the greater good and ask that he commute Owens’ sentence to one of life without parole. The Gospel mandates that we “love our enemies and pray for those who have harmed us.”
Peace be with you,
TN Catholic Public Policy Commission

RCIA, Why Catholic, Adult Formation, and Young Adults

Subscribe to Adult Formation Comprehensive: