Papal Aide Seeks to Halt 2 Executions

The apostolic nuncio to the United States has urged the governors of Ohio and Texas to grant clemency to two men sentenced to death.

On behalf of Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo wrote letters to Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, both Republicans, on Oct. 27 requesting clemency for Kenny Richey in Ohio and David Hicks in Texas.

An execution date has not been set for Richey, who was sentenced in 1987 after a murder conviction. Hicks, convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of his grandmother, is scheduled to be executed Jan. 20.

In his written request to Bush, the archbishop quoted words the pope spoke at a Mass in January in St. Louis, where John Paul persuaded Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, a Democrat, to commute the death sentence of a convicted murderer.

“A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil,” the pope said. “Modern society has the means of protecting itself without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform.”