Bishop Urges a Halt to Federal Executions

Bishop Joseph Fiorenza, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, has called on President Clinton to propose a suspension of all federal executions.

“As you know, the Catholic bishops in the United States have long called for an end to the death penalty,” the Galveston-Houston prelate said. “I want to add my voice to others who have called for a suspension of federal executions.”

White House officials have previously said that Clinton is weighing a moratorium on federal executions in the wake of a similar decision by Illinois Gov. George Ryan to impose a capital punishment moratorium in his state.

Currently, 21 people are on federal death row. The last federal execution was in 1963.

The Illinois moratorium was prompted by several wrongful convictions of death row inmates that have come to light in recent months.

Fiorenza’s call to Clinton for a federal moratorium was sent in a letter to Atty. Gen. Janet Reno in which he called attention to recent actions and statements by Pope John Paul II spelling out the church’s aversion to capital punishment.

“The pope has said that because of our ability to keep society safe from aggressors, the need to execute individuals has become ‘rare if not practically nonexistent,’ ” Fiorenza said.