Sister Helen Prejean's Visit to Milwaukee

On Thursday, January 16 Sister Helen Prejean, famous for her ministry

which works for the abolition of capital punishment, gave her much

anticipated address to the Cathedral Ministry Conference hosted by

Milwaukee's Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist. This event was

publicized in this blog last week. She talked about her life and the

factors in her becoming an opponent of the death penalty.



For those of you, my loyal readers, who would like to learn more about this

remarkable woman, Sister Helen gave me this information to pass along:



To order her books about her ministry work, "Dead Man Walking"

and "The Death of Innocents", please e-mail Sr. Helen:


hprejean@dpdiscourse.org to order by credit or debit card,

or send a check to her thus:


Sister Helen Prejean

3009 Grand Rt., St. John #5, New Orleans, LA 70119.



Each book costs $15, but you can order BOTH for $25 plus

$2.00 shipping, a splendid bargain! The proceeds will fund

her ministry.




I had a great time at her presentation and enjoyed meeting this

dynamic, charming, and irrepressibly witty and optimistic lady!

"Dead Man Walking" is Sr. Helen's first book; you may know it

via the movie made of it, also with the same title. "The Death of

Innocents" is her latest offering, in which she relates the stories

of wrongfully convicted and executed murder suspects. These

prisoners were wrongfully killed for a variety of reasons:

questionable evidence, false testimonies of "witnesses" presented

by prosecutors, politicians' pandering for votes at election time

by seeming to be "tough on crime", and even the defendants having

the misfortune to be of "the wrong skin color". Both books have

gut-wrenching stories that will make supporters of the death penalty

think twice about their favoring it, and will give renewed vigor to those

who oppose the death penalty. And if you learn of Sr. Helen coming to

your city or town to give a presentation on her ministry I highly recom-

mend that you go see her, regardless of your opinion on capital punish-

ment! Keep in mind that she also ministers to the families and friends

of murder victims, who often feel that no one is there to hear their cries

of grief and anguish, that no one seems to care about their feelings and

their loss. Sister Helen will also tell you about relatives and friends of

murdered people who say that killing their loved ones' killers will not

fill the emptiness inside of them, nor quell their pain. Sr. Helen recog-

nizes and ministers to all of the afflicted in capital crime situations; she

has no political axe to grind, she has no agenda other than ending capital

punishment and ensuring justice for all involved; death row inmates and

grieving families and friends, those employed by the prison systems in

capital punishment practicing states, and the concerned citizens who,

having been impacted albeit indirectly, follow it all.




For further information on the campaign to abolish capital punishment,

also visit the website of Death Penalty Focus, a group based in California

which Sister Helen has worked with on many an occaision. They have a

wonderful site packed with information on how to work for abolition of

killing as a state-sanctioned punishment for deadly criminals, including

a compelling "Top Ten List" of reasons to oppose the death penalty. The

list makes some points which will not merely surprise but astound you!

I know, as I have read this list myself! I visit their web site regularly.

Visit DPF at: http://www.deathpenaltyfocus.org/ .



Over time I will occaisionally post stories and commentary on this topic

I want for our country to be ever vigilant in deterring crime and bringing

all criminals to justice, but we as a nation can be bulldog-tough on crime,

especially violent crime, without our government sanctioning as

punishment for what it, and we, prohibit as behavior. Sister Helen

can show us how.


MEM









































































.