“The Catholic Church,” Pope Leo said, “has consistently taught that each human life, from the moment of conception until natural death, is sacred and deserves to be protected.”
Death Penalty
Posted inBooks
New graphic novel brings Sister Helen Prejean’s story to next generation of anti-death penalty activists
‘Dead Man Walking’ has proven compelling enough to thrive across its many mediums. The most recent version, a graphic novel illustrated by Catherine Anyango Grünewald and scripted by Rose Vines, is no exception.
Posted inPodcasts
Interview: Richard Rohr and the Universal Christ
In our lively and wide-ranging conversation on “The Spiritual Life,” the spiritual master Richard Rohr, O.F.M., often makes mention of one of his most well-known phrases, the “Universal Christ.” But what does it mean?
Posted inPodcasts
Sister Norma Pimentel and Father James Martin on the migrant question
Sister Norma, the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, has experience seeing and being nourished by the faith of the migrants she has worked with for decades.
Posted inPodcasts
Interview: Cardinal Nemet of Belgrade on faith and burnout
Very few of us are cardinals, but many of us have suffered, are suffering or will suffer from burnout. That’s why many of us will resonate with Cardinal Nemet’s practical advice: Surround yourself with people who love you (and will tell you when you need help), and then get professional help.
Posted inPodcasts
Sister Helen Prejean: You don’t know what spiritual seeds will turn into
I always like (well, love) talking to Helen Prejean, C.S.J., the anti-death penalty activist and author of Dead Man Walking. Something she said in our conversation on the latest episode of “The Spiritual Life” podcast brought me up short.
Posted inShort Take
Executions nearly doubled in 2025. But the Jubilee Year saw other good news for death penalty abolition.
So far, 11 states have carried out 45 executions this year, nearly double the number in 2024, even as public opinion continues to turn against the death penalty.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Sister Helen Prejean on Joe Biden’s act of Advent mercy
“President Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of 37 prisoners condemned to death was a reminder that even the most heinous of our sins does not mar our human dignity.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Biden commutes 37 death row sentences before Trump can resume executions
President Joe Biden announced on Monday that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis calls for end to foreign debt, death penalty ahead of Jubilee Year
Pope Francis has called on all nations to eliminate the death penalty, to divert a fixed percentage of arms spending to a global fund to fight hunger and climate change, and to cancel the international debt of developing nations.