“Why do we think that an execution, which is a reflection of us as a society, solves anything? Each time we execute someone, something dies in our culture too — the heart and soul of who we think we are is diminished.”

Sister Maureen Fenlon

Maureen Fenlon, OP, doesn’t mince words when it comes to talking about the death penalty. And why should she? With a decade’s worth of prison ministry in the 1970s followed by many years of social change activism, she returns to our criminal justice system, this time as the national coordinator of a new play based on the bestselling book Dead Man Walking. Sister Maureen is hoping the play will awaken Americans once again to the death penalty issue, and get them talking about what she says is one of our nation’s “deep, dark secrets.”

A self-described “cultural worker” who uses art, music, film, literature and other forms of culture to delve into social consciousness, it’s only fitting that Sister Maureen is the national coordinator of the stage adaptation, “Dead Man Walking.” Written by actor Tim Robbins and based on the book that Helen Prejean, CSJ, published in 1993 (a feature film of the same title hit theaters in 1996), the play was originally released to Jesuit high schools, colleges and universities last fall. Now, however, any school with a drama department, especially colleges and universities, is welcome to do a full production or dramatic reading of the play. Built into the play project is the requirement that other departments in the school will engage students and teachers in a wider discourse on the death penalty issue in classes such as religion, philosophy, literature and social studies.

Sister Maureen was invited by her friend Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, to join her in redefining the anti-death penalty movement. The "Dead Man Walking" Play Project and Sister Helen's latest book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, are pushing capital punishment into the forefront of American consciousness.

“It’s time to address this major social issue with a sense of humanity that touches our souls,” Sister Maureen said. “The play is a wonderful way to have an honest-to-goodness talk about the issue of the death penalty. I’m happy to be a part of it, because I’ve always felt that the arts have power in awakening people to their own moral integrity. It’s not our government, but our people, who have to face squarely this extreme form of punishment within our justice system.”

Sister Maureen believes the play will provoke deeper reflection on what she considers to be a key moral and cultural issue. Why do we rely on the death penalty as a means of punishment? Why does our country think it’s acceptable to use the death penalty when most other western countries in the world don’t? Why aren’t more people aware that there is an alternative to the death penalty — life in prison without parole?

“When posed with thought-provoking questions, people are willing to take a second look at the death penalty,” Sister Maureen noted. “The public is being given an opportunity to think about life in prison without parole as a true option for punishment instead of the death penalty. Even before looking at that option, though, the deeper question that should be settled is, why do we even think that killing is an act of justice?

Sister Maureen discusses the "Dead Man Walking" play with its writer, actor Tim Robbins. As the national coordinator of the play, Sister Maureen hopes the production will foster a wider discourse on the death penalty issue.

There is this huge layer of vindictiveness and retribution in our country which is clearly reflected in our criminal justice system. There is an unforgiving form of religiosity that is so far from the love and forgiveness preached by Jesus. It seems to contradict our view of the U.S. as a Christian country. Religious people are invoking the fact that the death penalty is fair punishment — an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. What we justify in the name of religion and in the name of fairness is that if you kill, we will kill you. The death penalty is a crude form of justice carried over from ancient times.”

The “Dead Man Walking” production isn’t the only forum giving renewed vigor to the anti-death penalty movement. Sister Helen Prejean’s latest book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, released at the end of December 2004, also is pushing capital punishment into the forefront of American consciousness. The book outlines the flaws that are inherent in state-sanctioned killing, flaws that often lead to innocent people being executed or put on death row and later exonerated. To date, at least 117 wrongfully convicted persons have been released from death row.

Sisters Helen and Maureen,
along with groups such as The Moratorium Campaign, Abolition of the Death Penalty, American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International, as well as religious organizations — including the Adrian Dominican Congregation, which has a corporate stance against the death penalty — continue to call for the abolishment of the death penalty or at least a moratorium on it, citing key reasons. According to the ACLU, race often plays a role in determining capital punishment. Over 80 percent of capital cases involve white victims, even though only 50 percent of murder victims are white. In addition, where a death sentence is sought often determines whether a defendant is sentenced to death — more so than the circumstances of the crime. In The Death of Innocents, Sister Helen writes that over 80 percent of executions over the past 25 years have been carried out in former slave states.

“Even if those on death row are guilty, do we still want the death penalty to be our form of justice?” Sister Maureen challenged. “It says something about a people who allow the death penalty as punishment. We look at capital punishment as if it’s something that’s outside of ourselves and only affects the person who gets executed and his/her family. And supposedly, it rights the wrong so that the victim’s family feels vindicated. We have to acknowledge that executions — state-sanctioned killings — directly impact our society and make it that much more violent.”

Coming Full Circle

After wrapping up her work last fall as the national coordinator for NETWORK, the Catholic social justice lobby, Sister Maureen was asked by her friend Sister Helen Prejean to be the national coordinator of the “Dead Man Walking” Play Project, and to join her in redefining the anti-death penalty movement. The invitation to delve into criminal justice brought Sister Maureen full circle after more than 30 years.

Sister Maureen’s involvement in prison ministry first began in the 1970s. Wanting to meld her interest in social work and criminology, Sister Maureen opened hospitality centers for families who were visiting inmates in prison. After opening the first such center — Terrell House in Tallahassee, Florida, which she directed from 1972 to 1975 — Sister Maureen was given $6,000 by Catholic Charities of Marin County, California, to develop hospitality centers at every prison in the state. Between 1975 and 1980, she established 13 centers at both state and federal prisons before moving into community organizing.

Working out of the newly formed Death Penalty Discourse Center in New Orleans, Sister Maureen is excited to once again step into the criminal justice arena, this time to engage in what she says is one of the most important unresolved social issues of our time: the death penalty. She is especially pleased that the arts will be her means of inspiring people to seek fundamental change in their view of what makes for a just society.

“Social movements advocate for changes in how people are in relationship to one another and to their social structures,” Sister Maureen said. “However, prior to being advocates for social change, there has to be a change, or conversion, of our minds and hearts so that we, the advocates, can speak and act with clarity and integrity. In a multicultural society such as ours, the arts becomes one of the most accessible places for people to meet, see, hear and feel anew the compelling issues of our times. Through my work on a wide range of social issues over the years, I have learned to use various art forms as a movement-building energy force. How gratifying it is to have a chance to bring Tim Robbins’ powerful play “Dead Man Walking” to the young people of our country as a means of engaging all of us at a new level of discourse on the death penalty. How lucky can one get?”