My Dear Friends,

As many of us return from summer vacation, I wanted the first bulletin column for the month of August to be sort of a “welcome back” type of message. However, the bishops of the state of Florida issued a powerful pastoral letter on the death penalty this past Monday that deserves of our attention. I’ll leave my scheduled column for next week which is the Sunday before school begins so that I can share excerpts from “A Pastoral Letter on the Death Penalty” which was signed by Archbishop Wenski and all the bishops of Florida. Please read this carefully and pray for the abolition of executions in our state.

God bless,

(Excerpt 1: Introduction) To the Catholic Faithful and All People of Good Will: The record number of executions in Florida last year, and the increased pace at which they continue to be carried out, call for a response. In 2025, the number of executions conducted by our state more than doubled the previous record and was at least four times higher than any other state in the nation. In addition to Florida’s alarming rate of executions, our state legislature has passed laws in recent years to expand the use of the death penalty. These include repealing the unanimous jury requirement in death penalty sentencing—lowering the threshold to just eight of twelve votes, the lowest of any state—expanding the range of crimes and the class of offenders for which the death penalty may be imposed. As teachers and leaders of the Catholic Church in Florida, we invite a renewed consideration of this topic that looks beyond partisan lines to the teaching of the Church and her moral authority. We desire to reverse these signs of a culture of death and further a culture of life by promoting a greater respect for human life and its inherent dignity for all people and in all circumstances, even those who have committed grave crimes. In this letter, we wish to remind Catholics of the teaching of our Church against the use of the death penalty in situations—like our own—where bloodless means are sufficient to punish offenders and protect public safety. We also appeal to the consciences of all citizens of our state as part of the ongoing public debate over this issue…

(Excerpt 2: Papal Teachings) Four years after issuing Evangelium Vitae, at a papal Mass in St. Louis, MO, St. John Paul II stated that “a sign of hope” of the new evangelization, which calls followers of Christ to be unconditionally pro-life, “is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done evil,” and then renewed his call “for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary.” Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis subsequently reaffirmed this teaching of the inadmissibility of the death penalty and called for its end. Pope Francis even revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2267) to reflect the Church’s official opposition to it, and strongly support efforts to end its use, in these words: Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide. Pope Leo XIV has repeated the appeal of his predecessors, declaring in an interview that “someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life.”

(Excerpt 3: Conclusion) In the end, while supporters of capital punishment – who may consider themselves pro-life – claim that it serves a presumed good of justice for the victims and their loved ones, it comes at a much greater expense to the common good of society, and our common humanity. Instead, as with Jesus’ reinterpretation of the lex talionis in the context of his Sermon on the Mount, we are called to a higher justice as Christians and a better justice as human beings for our common good and dignity. In closing, let us again listen to the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2267): “Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.” We do work with determination for its abolition, and we urge all Catholics, and our fellow citizens of good will, to end the practice of capital punishment in our state. As we do so, we make our own the prayer of Bishop Estévez in his pastoral letter, imploring God that the ethic of human dignity will infuse every element of society with respect for persons – from the most innocent unborn child to convicted felons – through people of faith transformed by the Gospel message of Christ’s love and life. Issued: July 27, 2027