Most Rev. Felipe J. Estévez: Florida Bishops Against the Death Penalty

Bishop Estévez' column originally appeared in the July/August 2019 issue of the St. Augustine Catholic.
 
Executions resumed in Florida in 1979.  Since then, 98 people have died in the electric chair or by lethal injection at the hands of the people of Florida.  Two were women.  Three-hundred forty (340) men await execution in Florida.  We lead the nation in having 29 people exonerated of their crimes while awaiting execution.  Our state is one of only 8 to execute an inmate in 2018 and one of 5 to execute more than one person. 
 
On behalf of my brother bishops of the Province of Miami, I am the moderator for respect life and have the privilege of pastoral responsibility for inmates awaiting execution and those relatives of victims.  I bring this perspective to you today, with a focus on our twofold interest: 1) pastoral care and 2) public or political discourse.
 
Pastoral Dimension
We have long supported a (volunteer) chaplain on death row.  Dale Recinella is a Catholic layman who came to minister to men on death row in 1998.  He graduated from Notre Dame’s law school, and as his conversion deepened, he was drawn into ministry among the marginalized, including the homeless.  In the course of events, he has served as a pastoral advisor to numerous men who have been executed.  Dale has written books and serves as one of the foremost advisors to the Vatican on the death penalty in the United States.  His wife Susan ministers to the families of the condemned.
 
We also employ Deacon Corky Hecht, who has been assuming more and more of Dale’s responsibilities; he shares in ministry to the men on death row, and the broader prison population within my diocese. As one resident of death row shared as he was received into the Church, "I want to belong to the Church that wants to belong to me."
 
Engaging Public Officials
My brother bishops and I, together through our state Catholic conference, have taken the opportunity to engage with each of Florida’s governors on the death penalty since its reinstatement in 1979. 
 
My brother bishops of the Province and I ask the Governor to stay each execution and to seek a commutation of the condemned man’s sentence to life without parole.  We have noted Pope Francis’ characterization of such a “life sentence” as a death sentence, but we are following St. John Paul II’s admonition to accept incremental improvements when the desired goal is beyond our grasp. 
 
It is notable that public opinion polling has shown that when people realize that the alternative to a death sentence is life without parole, we see a flip from 40% opposition to the death penalty to 60%.  It would be in keeping with St. John Paul II’s call in Evangelium Vitae to limit our state’s interest to non-lethal means wherever possible.  Again, we have made this request prior to each execution. 
  
Engaging Catholics and the Broader Community
In addition to requesting stays of execution and commutation of sentences, we also began to hold prayer vigils leading up to and during scheduled executions in 2012.  What began modestly with a request that the diocese where the crime was perpetrated hold a vigil, the number of Catholic-sponsored vigils associated with the last execution in Florida was thirty (30), with every diocese represented.  This does not include others sponsored by other community groups.
 
At these vigils, participants are invited to pray for the victims of violent crime and the crimes in question, for those affected by their deaths, for the condemned and their loved ones, and for the Governor to stop the execution and not to sign any more warrants.  A vital dimension in our prayer and our advocacy is remembering the victims of the heinous crimes that prompted the proposed execution in the first place; they must never be forgotten.
 
At the last execution, about 1000 Floridians utilized our electronic network to ask the Governor to stay the execution and to let him know they are praying for him.  This does not include the multiple groups with whom we collaborate who also directed their partners to contact the Governor in this regard.
 
Changing Hearts & State Policies
We have been changing hearts, even among our own.  There was a time when some of our diocesan staff – even respect life directors who are deeply dedicated to the plight of the unborn at risk of abortion and the aged and infirm vulnerable to assisted suicide – were less than comfortable advocating against the death penalty.  I am pleased to say that it is no longer the case in our province.  Through our reflection on this topic, speakers at conferences and across the state, and resources we have developed, the outcry against this unnecessary attack on the sanctity of human life is growing louder and louder. 
 
It is clear that we have had success.  In the policy realm, Florida had the lowest standard required to sentence someone to death until 2016.  After a unanimous finding of guilt, unanimity was not required among jurors in the finding of aggravators that should prompt death, and only a simple majority of jurors could vote to recommend a death sentence.  A judge could override any jury recommendation for life or death.  In 2016, the legislature required a 10-2 vote to recommend death.  A year later, as a result of a U.S Supreme Court ruling, unanimity in recommending death was required, and a judge could only overrule a death recommendation and replace it with life. 
 
Legislators who may not agree with all of our positions on the life issues in the public square more frequently acknowledge and respect our consistency.  We are at our best when our people are as comfortable collaborating with conservative political groups against abortion as we are collaborating with progressive groups against the death penalty.  We are promoting the Gospel of life across the political spectrum; we are building bridges as we make our proposal to public officials and to all of society to respect human life and promote the common good.  As St. Paul encouraged the Ephesians, “Let us walk as children of light…” (Ephesians 5:8).