Clerics united in opposition to death penalty

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-

It could be the start of a groan-worthy joke.

A Catholic priest, a rabbi, an Episcopal rector, a Methodist minister and a Lutheran pastor sit down for some interfaith dialogue.

But yesterday at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in East Liberty, there was no joking about the discussion topic, the death penalty.

The Judeo-Christian religions have come a long way from the Old Testament notion of an eye for an eye, the panelists said. Representatives of the five religions said their churches have officially come out strongly against America's use of the death penalty.

The panel discussion, which was sponsored by the Pittsburgh Faith in Action Against the Death Penalty group, came just a few days after a Washington County jury unanimously decided against the death penalty for Terrell Yarbrough, 29, of East Liberty. Mr. Yarbrough was sentenced to life without parole for the shooting deaths of two Franciscan University of Steubenville students in 1999.

Pennsylvania has executed three people since 1976, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center, but has 226 people on death row.

The Rev. Donald Green, a Lutheran pastor and the executive director of Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania, moderated the discussion among the four panelists, who each presented their church's official stance on the death penalty.

"At the core of Catholic understanding is the worth and dignity of every human being, and the protection thereby," said the Rev. Frank Almade, the pastor of St. Juan Diego Parish in Sharpsburg.

Speaking for the United Methodist Church was the Rev. David Morse, a retired pastor and the chair of the Western Pennsylvania United Methodist Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. The United Methodist Church opposes the death penalty, he said, and urges "restorative justice" rather than "justice of punishment, or vengeance."

Rabbi Art Donsky, the spiritual leader of Temple Ohav Shalom in McCandless, outlined the evolution of death penalty position in Jewish scripture, thought and practice.

"There would be no moral or legal grounds within Jewish tradition to execute anyone," he said.

The Rev. Moni McIntyre, rector of Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Homewood, said the Episcopal Church has made pronouncements against the taking of human life, including through the death penalty.


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