Vatican Access with Robert Duncan
Jul 10, 2026 · 46 min · 12 segments
Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy is Executive Director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, the leading Catholic organization in the United States working to end the death penalty and promote restorative…
Krisanne Vaillancourt MurphyGuest
Robert DuncanHostThe United States has the death penalty, unlike many other Western countries.
The death penalty has had this resurgence of methods that are horrifying, like nitrogen gas, like firing squad.
July 2nd marked 50 years since the death penalty was revived in the United States, and across the country, execution methods that until recently seemed confined to history books are making a comeback.
In April, Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed the Catholic case against the death penalty with a simple principle.
The dignity of the person is not lost even after various serious crimes are committed.
Furthermore, effective systems of detention can be and have been developed that protect citizens, while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption.
Chris Anne Vallencourt Murphy has spent nearly a decade leading the Catholic Mobilizing Network, a national organization that works to end capital punishment and promote restorative justice rooted in Catholic teaching.
We had the possibility to use this practice at some point in our history, and we've now arrived at this point where we're saying, "Actually, we know better now."
... what gives you confidence that there's hope that they can actually change their lives? In this conversation with Catholic News Service, we trace the church's evolving teaching on capital punishment, what Chris Anne recently told Pope Leo about Ohio's death row, and why the Catholic case against the death penalty might point to an even more controversial question: Should anyone be sentenced to life without parole?
There always must be a window of hope, and giving someone a life sentence kind of closes that window.
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The United States has the death penalty, unlike many other Western countries.
The death penalty has had this resurgence of methods that are horrifying, like nitrogen gas, like firing squad.
July 2nd marked 50 years since the death penalty was revived in the United States, and across the country, execution methods that until recently seemed confined to history books are making a comeback.
In April, Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed the Catholic case against the death penalty with a simple principle.
The dignity of the person is not lost even after various serious crimes are committed.
Furthermore, effective systems of detention can be and have been developed that protect citizens, while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption.
Chris Anne Vallencourt Murphy has spent nearly a decade leading the Catholic Mobilizing Network, a national organization that works to end capital punishment and promote restorative justice rooted in Catholic teaching.
We had the possibility to use this practice at some point in our history, and we've now arrived at this point where we're saying, "Actually, we know better now."
... what gives you confidence that there's hope that they can actually change their lives? In this conversation with Catholic News Service, we trace the church's evolving teaching on capital punishment, what Chris Anne recently told Pope Leo about Ohio's death row, and why the Catholic case against the death penalty might point to an even more controversial question: Should anyone be sentenced to life without parole?
There always must be a window of hope, and giving someone a life sentence kind of closes that window.
