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October 12, 2026, Adrian, Michigan – On behalf of Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates, the General Council of the Congregation issued the following statement in opposition to the Trump Administration’s plans for a public execution.
The Adrian Dominican Sisters join with other Catholic leaders, including the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in strongly opposing the sensationalistic public viewing of a firing squad execution of the man convicted of the Fort Hood, Texas, mass shooting. The horrific assault in 2009 took the lives of 13 women and men, injuring 32 others, both soldiers and civilians.
As Catholic Sisters we reverence life and our hearts ache at the taking of any human life. We have long rejected the death penalty believing, as Pope Leo XIV recently stated, that the common good can be “safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment.” We see the death penalty as “an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” as Pope Leo states. It is the ultimate act of dehumanization.
We are horrified by the Trump Administration’s recent announcement that it would carry out the execution by firing squad and open it to public viewing by livestream. While, as the USCCB states, the actions of a mass murderer can never be condoned, the decision to publicly livestream the execution “is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death.”
We call on the Trump Administration to retract their intention to carry out this barbaric act. We vehemently oppose “the use of public media and social media to broadcast, distribute, or sensationalize the execution of any person,” as LCWR states. “We believe that turning the taking of human life into a public spectacle violates the values we hold in trust and the Gospel that women religious have dedicated their lives to proclaiming.”
We join the USCCB in asserting that “The word of God exhorts us: ‘do not repay anyone evil for evil' (Romans 12:17). The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people.”
We pray the Trump Administration will see the danger and reverse its decision, but should it persist in carrying out the execution as a public spectacle, we join LCWR in calling on all people of conscience “to refuse to watch, share, or circulate such content, recognizing that our participation, even as spectators, can contribute to a culture that diminishes human dignity.”
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Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters General Council are: Prioress Elise D. García, OP; Sister Frances Nadolny, OP, General Councilor; Sister Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; and Sisters Corinne Sanders, OP, and Mary Soher, OP, General Councilors.
Here is a draft for a note you can send to express your gratitude for their courageous stance:Dear Sisters,I am writing to express my deepest gratitude for your recent public statement rejecting capital punishment and standing firmly for the sanctity of human life.Your moral clarity, courage, and unwavering commitment to justice are a profound inspiration to me. In a time when it is so easy for voices to be silenced or sidelined, your public witness brings light and hope. Please know that your words do not go unheard; they resonate deeply with those of us who yearn for a culture of life and restorative mercy.I stand with you in this conviction and pray that I can be as steadfast a soldier for life and justice as you are. May God continue to bless your community and guide your vital ministry.With deep respect and gratitude,Anna M Ebeling
"Justice" has become synonymous with "retribution," "settling the score," "an eye for an eye." It wasn't always so. The original meaning of "justice" in Greek and Hebrew is "adjusting," "making right," "mending what has been broken," "lifting up what has fallen down," "healing," "sharing resources with the poor," "standing upright in the sight of God." I was taught this by Sr. Donna Kustusch PhD, OP, Adrian Dominican sister, 25 years ago while she was giving a retreat in El Paso, TX.Spread the word and help stop executions!
I t thoroughly agree with the Adrian Dominican stance
Thank you, Sisters, for this strong stand against this horrific plan. I am against the death penalty in every instance but this goes so far beyond even that. No one in good conscience can find this announcement acceptable. I sincerely hope your message, along with many others, reaches the administration to let them know that this cannot proceed as planned.
I stand with you all the Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates. They have done so much for others through their work and going on missions. They know the devil when they hear, see or senses him or his work. Listen to them this is wrong and their correct which is why I won't be included in that unexplainable activity.
Amen.
Thank you. I join you in strongly opposing the sensationalistic public viewing of a firing squad execution of the man convicted of the Fort Hood, Texas killings.