A death row inmate who never killed anyone, and who may not even have known a crime was going to be committed will be executed in Texas next week The execution is not only out of touch with Pope Francis and the U.S. bishops, but also growing public opinion against capital punishment.
A group of nearly 50 evangelical leaders are urging the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Greg Abbott to halt the upcoming execution of death row inmate Jeffery Wood.
In a letter signed by 49 evangelicals from Texas and around the country, the Christian leaders said officials have a “moral obligation” to stop the execution, which is scheduled for Aug. 24.
Evangelicals have historically been divided on the death penalty. The National Association of Evangelicals has stood in favor of the death penalty since the 1970s, though it updated its stance in 2015 to acknowledge that the Christian ethic could also undergird opposition to capital punishment.
“Many of us in the evangelical Protestant community are coming to where the Catholics have been for a while: pro-life in terms of whole life, all vulnerable life, whether in the womb or on death row,” one of the letters signatories, Joel Hunter, told The Marshall Project, a news outlet focused on criminal justice.
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