Personal Encounters

With The Death Penalty

Author and death row chaplain Dale Recinella will share his encounters with the death penalty during a special event at St Rose of Lima on Sunday, April 25. The program will begin at 1, following noon Mass.

Mr Recinella ministers to those on death row and in solitary confinement on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Florida. He took on this ministry as a lay volunteer after serving for years as an attorney at a high-powered law firm in the 1990s. A graduate of Notre Dame Law, he was a supporter of the death penalty until circumstances caused him to examine America’s death penalty in the light of his Catholic faith.

The result of this examination was the publication of his book The Biblical Truth About America’s Death Penalty, which challenges the idea that the Bible justifies capital punishment in the United States. Copies of the book will be available Sunday afternoon.

He and his wife, Dr Susan Recinella, minister as a team during executions: he serves as a spiritual advisor to the condemned and his wife serves as a minister to the condemned’s family and loved ones. They also minister to the families of murder victims. Their five children have also assisted in this ministry.

Mr Recinella’s column about respect for life, the death penalty, and prison ministry has appeared regularly for ten years in The Florida Catholic; he also appears regularly on Vatican Radio.

The event, which includes a light lunch, is free and open to the public. St Rose, at 46 Church Hill Road, can be reached for additional information at 203-426-1014.