Maryland's Catholic bishops have called for an end to the state's death penalty, challenging lawmakers and the majority of Catholics who support capital punishment.
In their six-page statement, "A Prayer for Mercy," the bishops of the Maryland Catholic Conference, which includes the dioceses of Baltimore, Washington (which encompasses some parts of Maryland), and Wilmington, Del. (which includes the Eastern Shore), said Wednesday that they believe "the use or threat of capital punishment in Maryland ... will continue the erosion of respect for life in our society."
In what they call "a justice-with-mercy ethic," the bishops say the availability of a sentence of life imprisonment without parole makes the death penalty obsolete.
The statement will be mailed to every Catholic parish and school in the state.
"We saw the need for more detailed educating of our people," said Cardinal William H. Keeler, the archbishop of Baltimore.
Maryland's bishops hope to influence their state legislators. They intend to give a copy of their statement to Gov. Parris N. Glendening, a Catholic, when they meet with him next week, said Richard Dowling, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, the church's lobby.
Glendening supports the death penalty but has commissioned a two-year study of the possibility of racial disparities in its application.
The bishops also will support two anti-death penalty bills expected to be introduced in next year's legislative session. State Del. Salima S. Marriott, a West Baltimore Democrat, will resubmit a bill she introduced this year calling for a three-year moratorium on executions that would allow Glendening's study to be completed. That bill had died in committee.
State Del. Dana Lee Dembrow, a Montgomery County Democrat, said he will introduce a bill to abolish the death penalty because of the highly publicized cases of people on death row who were wrongly convicted.
"I think it's probably time for us to re-examine the issue," he said. "The legislature has not had an opportunity for a straight vote for or against the death penalty for almost 10 years."
