Tonight in Virginia, John Allan Muhammad will be executed for a murder in 2002 that was part of a weeks-long killing spree that left ten dead in the greater Washington, D.C., area.  Known initially only as “the sniper,” Muhammad terrorized the region for weeks before he was finally apprehended. With just hours to go before the execution, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, a Catholic who opposes the death penalty, declined to grant clemency to Muhammad. In a statement Kaine highlighted the arduous appeals process that cleared the way for the execution.

For the last seven years Virginia has shown that it has the capability to protect the populace from this dangerous and violent man. So why execute him? Numerous studies have shown that executing a prisoner is more expensive than keeping him in prison for life without parole. Kaine is no doubt aware of these facts, yet he refuses to exercise his state-given power to halt Muhammad’s execution. He presumably, and perhaps correctly, thinks that he is charged with upholding the laws in Virginia and respecting his constituents’ beliefs. Yet as a Catholic he subscribes to a different view of life, and it is troubling that he has put aside his personal beliefs at this most important moment.

Where is the outrage on this life issue? Has any bishop threatened to deny the governor communion? It is hard not to conclude that there  is a double standard on life issues, with abortion taking on more urgency than the death penalty. Yes, it is difficult to advocate for the sparing of a vicious killer such as Muhammad, but Catholics in the United States–particularly our leaders–would have all the more credibility if we consistently argued for a theology of life that included all life, especially those whom most want to see die.

Michael O’Loughlin

Michael J. O’Loughlin is national correspondent at America and author of Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.