Catholics want death penalty banished after failed execution

By CathNews New Zealand

October 6th, 2026

Michael Coghlan/Wikimedia Commons

Tennessee’s Catholic leaders have urged the state’s lawmakers to replace the death penalty after the failed attempt to execute Christa Pike last week. Source: Tennessee Catholic Conference.

Pike was convicted in the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer at an East Tennessee job training program when Pike was 18 years old. She was scheduled to be executed on the morning of September 30, but a temporary stay delayed the execution by several hours.

That evening, Pike survived two attempts to execute her by lethal injection and was taken to an area hospital. She was listed on Monday (NZT) as in critical condition and on a ventilator.

On October 2, the Tennessee Catholic Conference, the official public policy and advocacy voice for the Church in that state, issued a statement calling the State of Tennessee “to choose a different path in responding to the most heinous crimes: replace the death penalty with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. This path serves justice, protects society and respects the dignity of every human life”.

The statement continued to say that “Catholic moral teaching recognises that even those who commit terrible crimes retain their human dignity”.

“Accountability for grave wrongdoing is necessary, but it does not require the taking of another life. The bishops of Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville have long maintained that society can be protected, and serious crimes punished, without resorting to execution.

“The suffering of victims and their families must remain central to our concern. They deserve lasting support, compassion and justice,” the statement said.

“An execution cannot restore the life taken and the uncertainty, prolonged proceedings and suffering surrounding the death penalty can deepen the anguish of everyone involved, including victims’ families, prisoners’ families and those charged with carrying out executions […]

“The fundamental moral question is whether the State should continue to take lives when it has another means of protecting the public and imposing a serious, lasting punishment.”

FULL STORY

Tennessee Catholic Conference Calls on State to Replace Death Penalty (Tennessee Catholic Conference)

Bishops urge Tennessee to commute death sentence after botched execution (Vatican News)