News Release #314

Released to Media on March 31,1999

New Ulm – The U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Administrative Board is calling on the nation’s more than 60 million Catholics to fight the death penalty in a Good Friday statement. In a pastoral letter to the people of his diocese, Bishop Raymond Lucker of New Ulm, a member of the National Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Administrative Board, made a strong appeal encouraging Catholics to be at the forefront of efforts to end capital punishment at state and national levels.

The Bishops noted Pope John Paul II’s call for an end to the death penalty at Christmas and during his recent visit to St. Louis, as they urged Catholics and others to give careful consideration to their own position on this issue. Many Catholics are supportive of capital punishment through a fear of crime. The Bishops stated that, "more violence is not the answer."

The Bishops said that victims of violent crime need the support of the Church but they see the death penalty as perpetuating a cycle of violence and promoting a sense of vengeance in our culture. . ." We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing," they said. "The death penalty offers the tragic illusion that we can defend life by taking life."

In their Good Friday statement the Bishops urge education, advocacy, prayer, and contemplation of the life of Jesus. Citing the December 1998 statement, Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics, they reiterated their position, "Our witness to respect for life shines most brightly when we demand respect for each and every human life, including the lives of those who fail to show that respect for others. The antidote to violence is love, not more violence."