Reflection on the Resumption of State Executions in Indiana
In the early hours of the morning, Joseph Corcoran (49 years old) was executed by the state of Indiana. It has been 15 years since Indiana has utilized its state law permitting the use of the death penalty. 27 years ago, Joseph was 22 when he committed the four murders that landed him a death sentence. On behalf of our office, I have recently attended Indiana Abolition Coalition’s rally against the death penalty at the State House and joined other faith leaders in writing to Governor Holcomb asking him to intervene.
The Catholic Church believes the use of the death penalty in Indiana is unjustified. Our Bishops and the Indiana Catholic Conference have held this position for many years. Our criminal justice system today has the capability of keeping society safe from these offenders without taking their lives. Our faith informs us that every life taken in this world is a grave injustice against the image of God in which we are all made in, even people who commit heinous crimes.
It is not the severity of the crime that determines whether someone should be executed. The determination lies in whether society has a means of keeping the public safe from the offender without taking their life. There have been times in history where the government has not been able to imprison a criminal for the remainder of their life while keeping the public safe from them. In such a situation the Church has deemed the use of capital punishment justified. Although the rightful utilization of that power is still something to grieve because it is still a loss of life.
Only God can provide true justice. Only God can know the intentions of our inner hearts. Thus, the Church’s stance on the abolition of the death penalty is one taken in humility. We are humans always attempting, but forever failing, to be as perfect as Christ. So, we are not the deciders of who lives and who dies and why. We are the protectors of life from conception to natural death because Christ died for all, that we might have life, and have it abundantly. We believe there is hope for the repentance of all, especially those on death row.
The fight to end capital punishment in Indiana is not over. We will be supporting the Bill filed by Representative Bob Morris to fully repeal the death penalty in the upcoming Indiana General Assembly session. You can stay in contact with our office through our ICAN alerts and get updated on the progress of this effort and others of the 2025 session by listening to Season 5 of our ICAN podcast. I am humbled to do this work with the Church. Let’s stay in touch and continue to reflect on the Church’s teaching about the death penalty. I hope you all are having a prayerful advent season.
-Roarke