Thread by @CMNEndtheDP

If you’ve been following us for a while, you know that we tweet prayers during every execution that happens in the U.S.

It’s not unusual for us to see some angry responses. But during last night’s execution of #AmberMcLaughlin, the messages were especially vitriolic.

So we thought we’d take this opportunity to share why we hold these “virtual vigils” over Twitter, and why no amount of hateful messages will stop us from speaking out against executions.

1. We pray during executions because we believe in the Catholic Church’s teaching that every life has dignity and value. We lament when lives are unjustly taken — whether by violent crimes or at the hands of the state.

We will continue to proclaim life’s sanctity.

2. We pray during executions because we believe the death penalty doesn’t heal the harm caused by crime — it perpetuates it. We ask God to comfort victims’ families in a way that executions never can.

We will continue to seek this much-needed healing.

3. We pray during executions to call attention to their disgraceful persistence in our country. The death penalty is a failed system that perpetuates racism, targets vulnerable populations, and risks innocent lives.

We will continue to condemn this prevailing injustice.

When we hold our “virtual vigils” on Twitter, we ask you to pray with us for victims, for people facing execution, and for the families of each.

But these aren’t the only people who bear the weight of our capital punishment system — and so we pray too for legal teams, prison workers, medical personnel, and media witnesses.

We pray for anyone who knows intimately what it’s like to take life in the name of “justice.”

Every execution touches innumerable lives — and the people affected by them need our prayers.

So we will continue live tweeting executions. We will continue blocking and reporting any messages that encourage violence or demean another person’s God-given dignity.

Most of all, we will continue insisting that another way of doing justice is possible — a kind of justice that models Jesus’ reconciling way.

We don’t have to answer killing with more killing. We can respond to acts of harm in a manner that honors human dignity, promotes healing, and enables transformation.

Thank you for praying with us for a life-affirming vision of justice.