Offender and Victims Remembered and Prayed for after Execution

On Wednesday, February 11, the day after Ronald Heath's execution, Bishop Wack of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee led Catholic faithful and members of the community gathered in the Capitol Rotunda for a prayer of remembrance for Heath and his victims, Michael Green and Michael Sheridan, and their families. Heath was the first to be executed this year in Florida. Three more executions have been scheduled: Melvin Trotter on February 24, Billy Leon Kearse on March 3, and Michael King on March 17. 

The Catholic Church teaches that the death penalty attacks the inviolability of the human person. Life-long incarceration without the possibility of parole is a severe yet more humane punishment that recognizes the inherent dignity of the guilty person while also ensuring societal safety.