Catholic Bishops preach an end to death penalty in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana death penalty opponents received a boost Monday when the national body of the state's largest church denomination began a renewed push to abolish government executions throughout the United States.\nThe U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops marked the start of Holy Week, when Christians observe the death of Jesus Christ, by announcing it would step up lobbying against capital punishment at both national and state levels and increase education in parishes.\n"It obviously gives added emphasis to an issue that the (Indiana) Catholic Conference has been working on for quite a while," said Glenn Tebbe, executive director of the government lobbying arm of Indiana's five Roman Catholic bishops.\nThe U.S. hierarchy's opposition to capital punishment, first stated in 1974, was reinforced in a major 1980 policy paper and other pronouncements since then.\nDonald Ray Wallace, who was executed March 10 for the 1980 slayings of an Evansville family of four, was the 12th inmate put to death by the state since reinstating the death penalty in 1977.\nThe five Indiana Catholic bishops did not get involved in Wallace's case, respecting his wishes not to seek clemency, Tebbe said.\n"Obviously there was concern and prayers," Tebbe said. "Our concern is always the same: We prefer that there not be capital punishment invoked and there not be executions. If the church can be helpful in helping others come to that conclusion, we will."\nCatholicism is Indiana's largest Christian denomination, claiming 770,000 registered members across the state.\nSupporters of the death penalty say it is necessary in some cases. It also provides a needed tool in plea bargains, which resolve about 98 percent of all criminal cases, said Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, who recently has asked for the death penalty in two cases, a triple slaying and the molestation-slaying of a 12-year-old girl.\n"The death penalty is only sought in the most heinous cases and only when the guilty of the defendant is beyond all doubt," Brizzi said. "There are some crimes that deserve the ultimate sanction."\nSeven other Indiana prisoners also could be executed this year, The Evansville Courier & Press reported last month, citing an aide to Gov. Mitch Daniels and other legal sources. One has been scheduled for April 21, when Bill J. Benefiel is to be put to death for the 1987 torture-slaying of Dolores Wells, 18, of Terre Haute.\nFormer Gov. Joe Kernan, a Catholic, commuted the death sentences of two prisoners during his final six months in office.\nDaniels recently said he has mixed feelings about the death penalty. He belongs to a congregation affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which opposes capital punishment and in 2000 called for an immediate moratorium on all executions.\nMany other faith groups also oppose the death penalty, including Indiana's largest Protestant denomination, the United Methodist Church.