Abp. Rozanski testifies in favor of bill to abolish death penalty

Missouri now has the opportunity to move toward a more just and humane criminal justice system — one that protects society while respecting the value of every human life.”

Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis

Church teaching on the death penalty (updated 2018)

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.

Today, however, there is an increasing awareness 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 light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and the dignity of the person,” and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2267

A Missouri House bill to abolish the death penalty finally received a committee hearing, and Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis was there on behalf of the Missouri bishops to offer testimony in support.

House Bill 2153, sponsored by Rep. Jim Murphy, a Republican representing a portion of south St. Louis County and a member at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Parish, would eliminate the death penalty as a sentencing option in the state.

A hearing for the bill took place on March 9 in the Missouri House’s Corrections and Public Institutions committee.

“The revised Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” Archbishop Rozanski said in his testimony. “It is no longer necessary to protect society because we have other means of incarcerating those who commit horrible crimes. It does not impose a just punishment commensurate to the crime, and it deprives the offender of the opportunity for redemption.”

Pope St. John Paul II appealed to end the death penalty during his visit to St. Louis in 1999, the archbishop pointed out, quoting from the late pope’s homily at Mass in the Trans World Dome: “The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life, who will proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of life in every situation. A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil.”

The archbishop noted that it’s important to recognize the seriousness of violent crime and the suffering of victims. Justice requires accountability, but modern prisons can protect society without taking another life.

The death penalty also carries the risk of executing innocent persons, the archbishop stated. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, since 1973, more than 200 people sentenced to death have later been exonerated.

“Missouri now has the opportunity to move toward a more just and humane criminal justice system — one that protects society while respecting the value of every human life,” Archbishop Rozanski stated. “Replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole ensures accountability while avoiding the moral and practical harms of capital punishment.”

Several others testified in support of the bill, noting fiscal concerns that putting a person to death costs up to $4 million more than a sentence of life in prison without parole; concerns about the irreversiblity of capital punishment when wrongful conviction is possible; a lack of evidence that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to violent crime; the arbitrary nature of when a prosecutor seeks the death penalty; the human toll on victims’ families, defendants’ families and corrections officers; and more.

No witnesses testified in opposition to the bill at the hearing.

Missouri executed one man in 2025, Lance Shockley, a decrease after putting to death four men in 2024 and four in 2023.

Five men remain eligible for execution on the state’s death row.

“This is another way in which we can stand up for life, to say that a person put to death, no matter what the crime, is really not consistent with being for life, being pro-life,” Archbishop Rozanski said.

For the past several years, bills to abolish the death penalty have been introduced but have not progressed to a committee hearing.

For Jamie Morris, executive director and legal counsel of the Missouri Catholic Conference (MCC), public-policy agency of the state’s four Roman Catholic dioceses, getting the bill heard in committee and having the chance for a variety of witnesses to testify about issues raised by the death penalty was a win in itself.

“Republican, Democrat, left, right — all aspects were really represented over at the Capitol on that bill, and that’s not something you see every day,” Mr. Morris said. “... Everyone comes at it in a slightly different way, but all the testimony agreed that the death penalty is really not necessary in the state of Missouri.”

Another bill seeks to remove the “judicial override” that currently allows a judge to impose a death sentence if a jury cannot come to a unanimous decision during the sentencing phase of a capital trial. Missouri and Indiana are the only states that allow a judge to give a death sentence if the jury is unable to agree.

House Bill 2747, sponsored by state Rep. Bishop Davidson, R-Republic, passed 140-7 in the Missouri House on March 3. It now awaits action in the Senate.

The MCC testified in support of that bill, too, Mr. Morris said. While it doesn’t go as far as HB2153, “It could be an incremental step to ultimately overturning the death penalty, and at least fixing what we see as one injustice in the system.”

The MCC will continue advocating for these bills to advance and urges Catholics to contact their state legislators and voice support.

“We’re excited, but we’re not stopping here,” Mr. Morris stated. “We’re going to see how far we can get this season.”

Laura Kosta is a reporter for the St. Louis Review (stlouisreview.com), news outlet of the St. Louis archdiocese.