By Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, Catholic Mobilizing Network*
Oct 1 marks the first day of Respect Life Month.
Celebrated each October in the U.S. Catholic Church, Respect Life Month is an invitation to reflect more deeply on the God-given dignity of all human life. During this month, Catholics across the United States recommit themselves to uplifting this core tenet of our faith: the belief that every life is sacred.
The death penalty falls squarely on the continuum of life issues. Taking the life of any person—innocent or guilty—is an affront to the sanctity of life. Such valuing of life is especially challenged this month, when eight men are scheduled to be executed in seven states:
– Roy Ward, Indiana, scheduled for execution on October 10
– Lance Shockley, Missouri, scheduled for execution on October 14
– Samuel Smithers, Florida, scheduled for execution on October 14
– Charles Crawford, Mississippi, scheduled for execution on October 15
– Robert Roberson, Texas, scheduled for execution on October 16
– Richard Djerf, Arizona, scheduled for execution on October 17
– Anthony Boyd, Alabama, scheduled for execution on October 23
– Norman Grim, Florida, scheduled for execution on October 28
Even in the face of grave harm, our Catholic faith teaches that every person is created by God with an inalienable dignity. No matter the harm one has caused or suffered, no life is beyond redemption. As Pope Leo XIV recently said during a General Audience:
“There is no past so ruined, no history so compromised that it cannot be touched by God’s mercy… No place is too far away, no heart is too closed, no tomb too tightly sealed for His love.”
Facing imminent execution
On Oct 14, Lance Shockley is scheduled for execution in the state of Missouri.
Emmjolee Mendoza Waters, Catholic Mobilizing Network’s Director of Death Penalty Abolition, first met Lance when his execution date had not yet been scheduled. Now, barring any last-minute action from the Governor of Missouri or the United States Supreme Court, Lance has only two weeks to live.
Emmjolee was invited to meet Lance alongside his legal team. Beyond the gates, the locked doors, security check points, and long hallways, the two met at a table in a visiting room.
Lance brought photos of his family and shared stories: about his daughters, his family, baptisms he had helped organize inside the prison. She tells me, “His voice filled with pride.”
With an execution now scheduled, Lance’s abilities to move around the prison and visit with others are much more restricted. He continues to communicate with Emmjolee over the phone.
“Meeting him made the work more personal, more real, and deepened both the hope and the sorrow I carry into it,” she says.
Archbishop Mark Rivituso, Archbishop of Mobile, in Alabama, also met Lance Shockley while serving as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of St Louis.
“In my interactions with him on these occasions, we developed a good friendship,” he said. “I am inspired by his goodness and being very devout in his faith. He is a role model for others in the faith community.”
“I pray that the Governor of Missouri will grant him clemency and alter his sentence from the death penalty to life without parole,” Archbishop Rivituso continued.
As an auxiliary bishop in Missouri, Archbishop Rivituso consistently advocated on behalf of the individuals on the state’s death row, writing clemency letters to the Governor urging action to commute their sentences.
Now in Alabama, there are more than 100 men on death row in his state. He said, “I have assured them they are not alone or forgotten. The Church is there for them.”
Archbishop Rivituso shows not only those in his diocese but all of us across the country how Catholics are called to “work with determination for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2267)
This Respect Life Month, and every month, I pray that we find the courage to respect the dignity of every human person, following the example set by Archbishop Rivituso who reminds us that the Gospel of Life is at the center of our faith.
“In advocating for an end to the death penalty, we need to be present and show the compassionate care of Jesus to those who are on death row,” he said. “We must always foster hope for those who are on death row. The culture of life needs to be fostered to change the current culture of death, and we must communicate the Church’s advocacy to safeguard the sanctity and dignity of all human life from conception to natural death.”
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Pray a Novena to End the Death Penalty with CMN Oct 1-9 to kick off Respect Life Month.
Visit CMN’s website to take action for those scheduled for execution.
* Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy is the Executive Director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, a national organization in the United States that mobilizes Catholics and people of goodwill to end the death penalty, advance justice solutions in alignment with Catholic values and promote healing through restorative justice approaches and practices. For more information and to join the movement, visit catholicsmobilizing.org.
