Nebraska Highlights the Catholic Church’s Struggle with the Death Penalty
America’s Joseph P. Hoover reports that the Catholic Church is campaigning against the death penalty in Nebraska, after its voters chose to reverse a state ban last November. Tom Venzor, director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, a political advocacy branch of the church, said, “Some folks have an unhealthy sense of retributive justice, calling for blood.” Father James Novakowski of the Holy Spirit Church in North Platte, Nebraska, has been an outspoken opponent of the death penalty: “My parishes know that my stance on pro-life is to know that God is the author of all life, from conception to natural death. And that includes not having the right to take another life.”