Florida Catholic bishops call for abolition of death penalty

Eight Catholic hierarchs in Florida, including Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami and Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez of Palm Beach, issued a joint statement urging residents and lawmakers to repeal the state’s death‑penalty provisions. They described capital punishment as a “culture of death” that contradicts Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life.

The bishops cited a recent surge in executions – a double execution on July 28, 2026, and a total of twelve inmates put to death in 2026 after nineteen were executed in 2025 – and urged a renewed moral consideration of the practice. Their appeal references Pope John Paul II’s encyclical *Evangelium Vitae* and stresses mercy, non‑violent alternatives, and compassion for victims’ families while rejecting additional state‑sanctioned killings.