I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary …  It is a great evil …  Modern society has the means of protecting itself without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform.

• Pope John Paul II in St. Louis, MO -- January 27, 1999

In 1976 the Catholic Diocese of Richmond strongly opposed reinstatement of the Death Penalty in the Commonwealth of Virginia and in the United States.  On the occasion of the 100th execution in the United States and the 7th in Virginia Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, the Presbyteral Council, and the Diocesan Pastoral Council issued a joint statement again urging an alternative to capital punishment.

In 1999 the number of people executed in the U.S. has surpassed 500!  The Commonwealth of Virginia has executed more people, in proportion to its population, than any other state in the union.  Virginia ranks second in the nation for the number of executions since reinstatement of the death penalty (61 as of  Feb. 4, 1999)!

Today, we renew our call to abolish the death penalty.  As followers of the non-violent Jesus, our faith teaches us to respect all life as sacred, even the lives of those who fail to show a respect for others.  We support restorative justice that provides offenders an opportunity to turn their lives around and requires them to make reparations to victims’ families and to society.  A consistent ethic of life, alive in the words of Jesus and rooted in the divine command, Thou shalt not kill, is at the heart of the Church’s teaching.  

The state has the responsibility to protect its citizens through swift and fair apprehension of perpetrators.  As an alternative to the death penalty, Virginia law now allows the Commonwealth to protect its citizens from violent offenders by giving them life in prison without possibility of parole.

We are deeply concerned for members of our community who have suffered violence, and for their family and friends.  We wish to minister to them in their anger, grief, and pain with compassion and understanding.  We are committed to providing long term pastoral care.  At the same time, we must continue to work for restoration of safety within our communities through non-lethal, non-violent means.

As the Church prepares to celebrate a Jubilee Year, we join Pope John Paul II in his condemnation of the death penalty as “cruel and unnecessary.” (St. Louis, 1/27/99)  We invite the people  of the Richmond Diocese to join us in the call to end the death penalty in our Commonwealth of Virginia and in our Nation.

Together we can work towards truly just solutions that break the cycle of violence and respect the human dignity of each and every member of society.
 

Approved February 1999 by: Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, Bishop of Richmond; the Richmond Diocese Presbyteral Council; the Richmond Diocese Diocesan Pastoral Council; Office of Justice and Peace; Sowers of Justice; Campus and Young Adult Ministry Commission; Haitian Ministry Commission; Sexual Minorities Commission.  (as of  10/13/99)