Jefferson City, Columbia vigils to oppose March 20 execution

The State of Missouri plans to execute Marcellus Williams at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 20, in the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre.

Catholic teaching strongly opposes the use of the death penalty because it disregards the sanctity and dignity of human life.

Missouri has executed 20 men since November 2013.

Several observances to give witness against the execution and in favor of reconciliation and alternatives to the death penalty will be held in Jefferson City and Columbia on March 20.

•A respectful protest will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in the corridor outside the Governor’s Office (Room 216) in the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City.

•A prayer service against violence will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the downstairs chapel of St. Peter Church, 216 Broadway Street in Jefferson City.

•A peaceful, silent vigil opposing the execution will be held from 5-6 p.m. on the sidewalk across from the Missouri Supreme Court Building, 207 W. High Street in Jefferson City.

•A peaceful, silent vigil will be held from 5-6 p.m. in front of the columns outside the Boone County Courthouse at Eighth and Walnut streets in Columbia.

The public is invited to take part in any and all of these observances.

Pope Francis noted in his 2015 address to the U.S. Congress that he has been advocating for an end to the death penalty worldwide.

“I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes,” he said.

Pope St. John Paul II, while offering Mass in St. Louis in 1999, called for a consensus to end the death penalty, declaring it to be “both cruel and unnecessary.”

For more information about the vigils, call (573) 301-3529.