On Saturday, September 30, Mount St. Mary’s University hosted a conference focusing on the morality of the death penalty from a Christian perspective. Parishioners of Catholic and Protestant churches of Maryland were invited to attend the conference which was entitled “Witness and Action: Christian Responses to the Death Penalty.”

The program featured presentations by Catholic death row chaplains, family members of murder victims who oppose execution on the basis of their Catholic beliefs, the directors of Maryland-CASE (Citizens Against State Executions) and the Maryland Catholic Conference, who gave an update on the current situation of the death penalty in Maryland, and exonerated death row inmates.

Afternoon workshops focused on specific ways in which participants can initiate dialogue on Christian responses to the death penalty in their local communities and churches. Workshops explored concrete ways to introduce dialogue on the death penalty, to conduct Scripture based discussions and become involved in prison ministry, to support the U.S. Bishops’ Catholic Campaign to Eliminate the Death Penalty, and to do outreach to evangelical Christians who support the death penalty. The conference drew more than 100 clergy, lay leaders, families of murder victims and death row inmates, professionals who work with victims of violence, educators and Christians interested in exploring this social justice issue.