wfn.org | A statement on the execution of Timothy McVeigh

[ENS@ecunet.org]

2001-85

A statement on the execution of Timothy McVeigh

     I am appalled by the events developing around the execution of Timothy McVeigh. 
Reports of people wanting to sell T-shirts and buttons conjure up images of executions in 
the Middle Ages and Roman times when these events were public entertainment.  Such an 
atmosphere demeans our judicial system as it promotes frenzy and revenge. A public ritual 
of death can only coarsen our spirits and deaden our sensibilities, placing us in danger of 
becoming persons of death, rather than life. Though undoubtedly Timothy McVeigh committed 
one of the most heinous crimes in the history of our country, I fear that execution as 
spectacle can only poison the soul of our nation. 

     We can't fully know the pain of those so tragically effected by the Oklahoma City 
bombing, most particularly their families.  I am concerned, however, that the provisions 
being made for them to witness the execution may only deepen the trauma they have already 
experienced, rather than help them recover from it. 

     Nothing is served by revenge. And here I note that the Episcopal Church, along with 
many other faith communities, is on record as being opposed to capital punishment. 

     I pray for Timothy McVeigh as he prepares to encounter the God, who made him, even as 
I pray for his victims and their families.  I invite all persons of faith to join me in 
these prayers as we seek with God' help to become instruments of God's peace and make our 
own the prayer of St. Francis: "Where there is hatred let us sow love; where there is 
injury, pardon; where there is despair, hope; where there is sadness, joy…" 

     April 19, 2001

     The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold

     Presiding Bishop and Primate

     The Episcopal Church