Among many groups, Catholics have been particularly energetic in campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States, with results in New Jersey (2007), New Mexico (2009), and Illinois (2011). I am very glad to be one of the signatories of a statement “A Catholic Call to Abolish the Death Penalty” written by Tobias L. Winright from Saint Louis University, a Jesuit institution. God bless him for doing this when Troy Davis was just recently executed by the State of Georgia. The petition is signed by renowned Catholic theologians and other Catholic scholars and it may be found in this page.
