Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M. and the state’s seven other Catholic bishops released a statement regarding the 10
th anniversary of New Jersey’s abolition of the death penalty.
“Over many decades, the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey consistently called for the abolishment of the death penalty,” the statement reads. “Thank God, on December 17, 2007, New Jersey became the first state in forty years to enact a law to eliminate the death penalty. …
“Our message is simple – every human being is made in the image and likeness of God, who alone is the absolute Lord of life from its beginning until its end (Genesis 1:26-28).”
On Dec. 2007, then-Gov. Jon Corzine signed a bill making New Jersey the first in the nation to stop using the death penalty since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the practice in 1976 after a three-year suspension. The death penalty was reinstated in New Jersey in 1982; the last execution in the state took place in 1963.
Cardinal Joseph A. Tobin, Archbishop of Newark; Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan, Diocese of Camden; Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli, Diocese of Paterson; Bishop James F. Checchio, Diocese of Metuchen; Bishop Kurt Burnette, Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic; Bishop Yousif B. Habash, Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac Catholic Diocese; and Bishop Manuel A. Cruz, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark also were named in the statement.