Prayer Vigil for Those on Death Penalty and Victims

Parishioners at Most Precious Blood spend time before the Blessed Sacrament on Monday evenings. On Aug. 18, they will dedicate a Holy Hour from 6-7 p.m. to pray for an end to the death penalty, for Kayle Bates who will be executed Aug. 19, and for his victim and family. (GLENDA MEEKINS)

For those Catholics who recall growing up with acceptance of capital punishment as a state’s legitimate option for safeguarding citizens, they might struggle with Pope Francis’ 2018 declaration that the death penalty is no longer necessary and wrong.

After the release of Evangelium Gaudium where Pope Francis ad- dressed the issue. He wrote a person possesses inherent dignity, unaltered by their sin, because they were created in the image and likeness of God. He went further in opposing the death penalty as he modified the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2267).

“Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good,” Pope Francis wrote. “Today, however, there is an increasing aware- ness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.

“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’ (Francis, Discourse, Oct. 11, 2017), and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”

Then, as recently as 2024, Dignitas Infinita, published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated how the death penalty “violates the inalienable dignity of every per- son, regardless of the circumstances.” 

• Holy Hour for an End to the Death Penalty: Monday, Aug. 18, 6-7 p.m., Most Precious Blood Parish Chapel, 113 Lockwood Blvd., Oviedo. Join us for a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament to pray for an end to the death penalty, for Kayle Bates who will be executed Aug. 19, his family and victims. Bates is the 10th person to be executed in Florida this year.

• Execution Prayer Vigil: Monday, Aug. 18, 6-6:30 p.m., Courtyard – St. Margaret Mary Parish, 526 N. Park Ave., Winter Park. Join us in a prayer vigil for Kayle Bates, his victim, and family.

• Day of Prayer to End the Death Penalty: Tuesday, Aug. 19, 7:30 a.m.-8 p.m., St. Mary Magdalen Parish, 861 Maitland Ave., Altamonte Springs. 7:30 a.m., Mass with special intentions and Florida bishops’ prayer to end death penalty; 8 a.m., exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with opening hour of the rosary for life; 7-8 p.m., holy hour led by Culture of Life Ministry with rosary, Litany for Life, Benediction. Chapel open all day for prayer.