A pending bill in the Ohio General Assembly, S.B. 103 (the “Bill”), if passed and signed by Governor DeWine, will abolish the death penalty in Ohio. Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, on behalf of himself and all the Catholic bishops of Ohio, has submitted written testimony endorsing the Bill and …

CNA Staff, Jul 14, 2020 / 04:01 pm MT (CNA).- The chief judge of a federal district court in Indiana denied Tuesday a motion to delay the execution of Dustin Honken, which is scheduled to take place Friday, until a treatment or vaccine for coronavirus is widely available. Fr. Mark …

CNA Staff, Jul 9, 2020 / 03:00 pm MT (CNA).- Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark has joined several U.S. bishops in asking President Donald Trump to commute the death sentence of a federal inmate scheduled to be executed on July 17. Exercising clemency, the cardinal told the president, can help …

Often, when theologians engage in their craft, they will deliberately adopt a general interpretive lens through which to examine specific topics. This lens is called a “hermeneutic” and the resolution of certain questions might vary according to the hermeneutic chosen. For example, for questions of moral theology a “hermeneutic of …

The story below is Part II of two powerful personal interviews. On the other side of the courtroom, Bill Pelke stands with those who have lost loved ones to violent crime. Bill’s grandmother, Nana, was attacked by a group of teenage girls who skipped school one afternoon, looking for money …

The story below are summaries of two powerful personal interviews. Part I Joe D’Ambrosio was getting ready for work on September 26, 1988. Suddenly, two police officers kicked in his door, pointed pistols at him, threw him on the ground, handcuffed him and arrested him for murder. A few months …

The Catechism reads a little differently now as of Aug. 1. The pope revised paragraph 2267 on capital punishment to read as follows: Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes …

Every few weeks Chris Gebhart gets in his car and takes a drive into scenic southeast Ohio to visit men awaiting death. Gebhart, retired president of finance, controller, and member of the board of directors for 26 years at Gold Medal Products, describes himself as a “squeaky clean guy” who …

By Catholic News Service  ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s outgoing Gov. Martin O’Malley announced Dec. 31 he would commute the death sentences of the last four inmates on the state’s death row to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. 

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis called for abolition of the death penalty as well as life imprisonment, and denounced what he called a “penal populism” that promises to solve society’s problems by punishing crime instead of pursuing social justice.