Criminal justice reform

Don’t you agree that everyone deserves the right to life? We have a history of ministry to persons in prison, including persons on death row. We have witnessed injustice of racial bias and many other facets that make our current system a broken one. We advocate for a judicial system that builds safe communities and focuses on restoration and rehabilitation for the sake of both victims and perpetrators.

For many years, we have tolled the bells within the Church of the Immaculate Conception following any state or federal execution. Our church bells tolled quite a bit in 2020 as the federal government executed 10 individuals with three more in January 2021.

We teamed with Death Penalty Action and others to conduct peaceful protests during each of these executions through rain, heat and cold conditions. We continue to minister with Death Penalty Action and others hoping our federal government abolishes the death penalty.

If you are interested in joining us in our justice endeavors, please contact our Justice Promoter, Sister Barbara Battista, at BBattista@spsmw.org or donate to our justice causes here.

From the Killing Fields of the Federal Government: InterFaith Essays on the Resumption of Executions

Sister Barbara Battista and five others provided faith-based essays for this book regarding ending the death penalty following the federal government’s decision in continue executions at the federal level in 2020.

Download a PDF of the book (4.19 Mb), or purchase a hard copy of the book at Linden Leaf Gifts