Witnessing Hope and Reconciliation: Human Dignity and the Death Penalty

In the Papal Bull for the Jubilee Year of Hope, Spes non Confundit, Pope Francis urged Christian believers to unite in opposition to the death penalty, which is “a provision at odds with the Christian faith and one that eliminates all hope of forgiveness and rehabilitation” (SC, 10). This fall’s Conversations that Matter series addresses the state of the death penalty in the United States in light of the Church teaching on the intrinsic dignity of human life and highlights stories of hope, restoration, and reconciliation from death row. Join us for a conversation with leading experts and families touched by the death penalty. This event is co-sponsored by Catholic Mobilizing Network.

Join us on Wednesday, November 19, 2025 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET.

Speakers:
Robert Dunham is the founder and director of the Death Penalty Policy Project, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Witness to Innocence, and special counsel in the non-profit public interest law practice at Phillips Black, Inc.

Monique Lee-Coleman is a native New Orleanian and U.S. Army Veteran who is the sister of Ryan Matthews, the 115th exoneree from death row.

Margaret Pfeil is a theological ethicist who teaches courses in Catholic social teaching, nonviolence, and integral ecology at the University of Notre Dame

Sylvester Schieber’s daughter, Shannon, was murdered in 1998. When Philadelphia’s district attorney publicly announced her intention to pursue the death penalty for the assailant when he was captured, Sylvester and Vicki Schieber waged a successful campaign against pursuing capital punishment in the case.

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For more information visit the event website.