The Catholic Church in Nebraska has stepped up efforts to convince voters to reject the death penalty.
The
state’s three bishops and the Nebraska Catholic Conference have joined
the Catholic Mobilizing Network Nebraska to organize public
presentations and an online advertising campaign.
The group is urging Catholics and non-Catholics to vote to retain the Nebraska Legislature’s 2015 repeal of the death penalty.
The group is urging Catholics and non-Catholics to vote to retain the Nebraska Legislature’s 2015 repeal of the death penalty.
With
modern penal systems, the death penalty is no longer necessary to
protect society, the group argues.
The church also encourages moving away from vengeance and toward mercy “even for those among us who have committed the most heinous of acts,” said Alex Kelly, coordinator of the new group.
The church also encourages moving away from vengeance and toward mercy “even for those among us who have committed the most heinous of acts,” said Alex Kelly, coordinator of the new group.
The group’s online ad features the Rev. Craig Loecker, pastor at St. Leo Catholic Church in Omaha.
Death
penalty proponents, who obtained the signatures needed for the Nov. 8
referendum, say capital punishment in Nebraska is reserved for a small
number of killers who deserve to be executed.
They also argue it helps protect prison officers from violence by inmates who would have nothing left to lose if the death penalty were eliminated.
They also argue it helps protect prison officers from violence by inmates who would have nothing left to lose if the death penalty were eliminated.
The
Catholic group plans to host informational events in Omaha,
Grand Island and Lincoln.
The events will feature talks by Joe D’Ambrosio, who wrongfully spent 20 years on Ohio’s death row, and Marietta Jaeger-Lane of Montana, who co-founded a national forgiveness group after her 7-year-old daughter was slain by a serial killer in 1973.
The events will feature talks by Joe D’Ambrosio, who wrongfully spent 20 years on Ohio’s death row, and Marietta Jaeger-Lane of Montana, who co-founded a national forgiveness group after her 7-year-old daughter was slain by a serial killer in 1973.