Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has denounced an effort to restore the death penalty in the state.
“I find it blasphemous that the state wants to take a human life,”
the archbishop said, speaking at a press conference held by opponents of
capital punishment.
The archbishop joined other civic leaders in speaking out against the
death penalty after Republican members of the state’s House of
Representatives pushed through a measure to reintroduce capital
punishment during a late-night session.
The initiative failed when the
state Senate declined to act on the proposal, and the legislature
adjourned.
The topic is likely to provoke heated debates when the state legislature meets again in January.