Catholics praise California governor for commuting all of the state's death sentences to life without parole

Catholic death penalty opponents praised Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom for his decision to use his "constitutional clemency authority" to commute all California death sentences to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Newsom, a Catholic, who is preparing to leave office in January, wrote in an open letter Nov. 5 addressed "to All Californians" that "I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values, undermines the foundations of our legal system and diminishes each of us."

According to data from the Death Penalty Information Center, although California has not carried out an execution in more than 20 years, it has maintained the nation's largest death-row population. Newsom's action reduces the U.S. death-row population by nearly 30%, according to the center's data.

Newsom's letter said the 548 people who have death sentences in the state comprise "the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere."

Newsom, who is widely seen as likely to seek his party's presidential nomination in 2028, said he would "follow the moral leadership of past presidents, including our Founding Fathers, and governors across America, from all political parties, who used their executive authority to commute death sentences."

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, a group that advocates for the abolition of capital punishment in line with Catholic teaching, said in a Nov. 5 statement that, in commuting the sentences to life imprisonment, Newsom "has given each of these individuals a tangible sign of hope and a chance for rehabilitation."

Catholic Mobilizing Network, she said, "believes in the God-given dignity of every person, no matter the harm one has caused or suffered," Vaillancourt Murphy said.

"We therefore celebrate that today's decision underscores the sacred value of 548 lives and leaves open the possibility for repair and transformation to the greatest extent possible. Every person deserves the opportunity to transform hurt and suffering into healing, redemption, and wholeness," she continued. "At the same time, we bear witness to the incomparable suffering that the families and loved ones of murder victims endure. We hear the cry for justice and accountability that grave harm rightly deserves, and we continue to hold them in prayer."

Vaillancourt Murphy said she hopes other governors follow suit, "namely Gov. Mike DeWine in Ohio, Gov. Laura Kelly in Kansas, and Gov. Kay Ivey in Alabama."

"Today's commutation is consistent with the dignity of every human person, demanding accountability, extending mercy, and allowing for redemption," said Kathleen Domingo, executive director of the California Catholic Conference.

A Nov. 5 news release from the conference with Domingo's statement said that it recognizes "the devastating and enduring impact of violent crime." The Church's advocacy against capital punishment carries an accompanying responsibility to listen to and walk with those whose lives have been changed by violence, the release added.

"We hold the victims of these crimes and their loved ones in our prayers," Domingo said in her statement. "Their lives matter, and their losses matter. Their need for support must remain at the center of our concern. As we welcome this decision, we renew our commitment to accompanying them with compassion and care."

In a statement, Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph, who is a national advocate for the end of the death penalty and author of "Dead Man Walking," said Newsom's decision is an answer to the prayers of many who have long called for him to take such action.

Shortly after assuming office in 2019, Newsom signed an executive order putting a moratorium on executions in the state.

"I have seen the horrors of the death penalty first hand having accompanied eight human beings to their tortured deaths at the hands of the state," Sister Helen said in her statement. "I am joined by hundreds of California faith leaders -- from all faiths -- who have added their voice to the call for the governor to choose justice through mercy and to commute all death sentences. We are so thankful that our prayers have been answered."

The Catholic Church's official magisterium opposes the use of capital punishment as a violation of the inherent sanctity of human life, and advocates for the practice's abolition worldwide.

The late Pope Francis revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018 to clarify the Church's teaching that capital punishment is morally "inadmissible" in the modern world "because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person."

In his 2020 encyclical, "Fratelli Tutti," Pope Francis cited the writings of St. John Paul II, saying that his predecessor "stated clearly and firmly that the death penalty is inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice."

Earlier this year, Pope Leo XIV delivered a video message to Catholic death penalty abolitionists marking 15 years since the abolition of the death penalty in his home state of Illinois.