USA: Prayers and protests as two more prisoners are executed

Two more men were executed last night by the state of Arkansas: Jack Jones and Marcel Williams.

Pax Christi Little Rock held a vigil outside the Arkansas Governors Mansion. They said in a message: God rest their souls and grant peace to the families of their victims as well as their families.

This was the first double execution on the same day in the US for 17 years. The state's decision to plan eight executions in just 11 days was prompted by the realisation that its stockpile of midazolam - one of three drugs used together in lethal injections - would expire at the end of the month. Pharmaceutical firms have refused to sell them any more.

Human rights groups, defence lawyers, and drug companies all objected to the decision.

Last Thursday, Ledell Lee was killed. Four of the planned executions have been delayed by the courts, but another is scheduled for Thursday 27 April. Sister Helen Prejean, author of 'Dead Man Walking' issued a video plea on Facebook and countless posts on Twitter, Arkansas native, former attorney and bestselling author John Grisham published a commentary in USA Today decrying the expected "spectacular legal train wreck." Hollywood star Johnny Depp attended a vigil for over an hour.

More than 200 Jewish and Christian leaders in Arkansas, including Bishop Anthony B Taylor and 80 priests and seminarians, signed a letter that was delivered to the governor's office on April 12.

Speaking at a press conference on the same day, Episcopal Bishop Larry Benfield and ministers from the Evangelical Lutheran Church and Disciples of Christ pleaded with the governor to commute the sentences. Bishop Anthony B Taylor also attended the press conference.

Bishop Frank J Dewane of Venice, Florida and Chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development said in a statement on 13 April:

"This Easter, let us ask the Lord for the grace to infuse our justice with mercy. May those in Arkansas who hold the lives of these individuals on death row in their hands be moved by God's love, which is stronger than death, and abandon the current plans for execution."

Bishop Dewane noted that Pope Francis called for "the global abolition of the death penalty," in his 2015 address to the US Congress, where the Holy Father said: "I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes. . . . A just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation."

Bishop Dewane wrote: "The Catholic Bishops of the United States have echoed this call for many years, including in their 2005 statement A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death.

"It can be very difficult to think of mercy at a time when justice for unthinkable crimes seems to cry out for vengeance.. the harm and pain caused by terrible sin is real." Yet, he invoked Pope Francis' reflection that, "Jesus on the cross prayed for those who had crucified him: 'Father, forgive them, they know not what they do'. Mercy is the only way to overcome evil. Justice is necessary, very much so, but by itself it is not enough. Justice and mercy must go together."

If the executions now scheduled for Thursday, April 27 take place, Trinity Cathedral in Little Rock, Arkansas plan to hold a brief ecumenical service followed by candlelight vigil and the tolling of bells. The services and vigils are offered for the public and all are welcome.