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February 10, 2009

Stephen Shurtleff, Chair
House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee
LOB, Room 204
Concord, NH  03301

Re:  House Bill 556

Dear Chairman Shurtleff and Members of the Committee:

As a citizen of New Hampshire and as the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester, I am writing to register my support for House Bill 556, which would repeal the death penalty in the State of New Hampshire.   

The teachings of the Catholic Church, rooted in reason and in faith, note that human life is sacred, and that every human person has inestimable value.  Every human life deserves the utmost respect from the moment of conception until natural death.  The unjustified taking of another person’s life violates human dignity and freedom.

The Catholic tradition does support the understanding that every person possesses the right to defend oneself, and that taking another person’s life in defense of one’s own—or in the protection of public safety by legitimate public authority—is justified.  Therefore, there is moral justification for the taking of another person’s life as an act of self-defense.  In these instances, the person who defends oneself or others is a defender of life.

The taking of a human life through the death penalty is unnecessary to ensure public safety today and is not consistent with preserving the dignity of human life.  By utilizing a sentence of life without parole, the state has the ability to protect the lives of its citizens without resorting to lethal force.  The use of capital punishment today has the potential of contributing to the culture of violence that we seek to eliminate from our society.

While the Catholic Church believes that the death penalty is not necessary today, we are no less concerned about caring for those who have been wounded by violence.  Our ministry seeks to support them in their search for justice, peace, and healing.  Families and victims of violent crime deserve our compassion, solidarity, and support.  On countless occasions, Catholic priests and other ministers have consoled families who have been wounded by violence and have heard their anger and despair.   However, standing with families of victims does not compel us to support the use of the death penalty.  Unfortunately, our experience shows that some of these families are further violated by the legal processes and public attention that comes with capital punishment cases.  For some, a death sentence offers the illusion of closure and vindication, but we know that the pain and loss of one death is not wiped away by another. 

The Catholic bishops in the United States have been calling for an end to the use of the death penalty for over 25 years.  As we stated in 2005:

[I]t is time for our nation to abandon the illusion that we can protect life by taking life.  Ending the use of the death penalty would be one important step away from a culture of death and toward building a culture of life. 

---United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

For the foregoing reasons, I urge you to support HB 556.

Thank you for your consideration and for your service to the people of the State of New Hampshire.

Very truly yours,

/s/ +John B. McCormack

Bishop of Manchester