wfn.org | UMNS# 05064-United Methodist bishop supports stay of execution

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United Methodist bishop supports stay of execution

Jan. 27, 2005	 News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New
York {05064}

NOTE: Photographs of Bishop Jeremiah Park and George Ryan are available
at http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

United Methodist Bishop Jeremiah Park supports a stay of execution in
the case of a convicted serial killer in Connecticut.

If Michael Bruce Ross had died by lethal injection on Jan. 26, as
originally scheduled, he would have been the first person executed in
New England since 1960. But a federal judge issued a stay of execution
two days earlier. Other court actions on the execution are pending,
including a possible ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Citing the United Methodist Church's opposition to the death penalty,
Park had formally called upon Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell to reconsider
her decision not to intervene in the case and on members of the
Connecticut legislature to abolish the death penalty. The bishop
represents nearly 150,000 United Methodists in lower New York state and
western Connecticut.

According to news reports, Ross - sentenced to death for four of the
eight murders to which he confessed - waived any further appeals of his
sentence last year, saying he was ready to die. Public defenders claim
he was incompetent when he made that decision. On Jan. 25, a federal
appeals court denied a motion by Connecticut state officials to cancel
the stay of execution.

"While no one can deny the heinous nature of his (Ross') crimes, United
Methodists believe that the state should not be complicit in wrongdoing
in its attempt to administer justice," Park said in a statement.

The denomination's Social Principles make clear the church's stand on
capital punishment. "We believe the death penalty denies the power of
Christ to redeem, restore and transform all human beings."

The position, found in Paragraph 164-G of the 2004 Book of Discipline,
continues: "The United Methodist Church is deeply concerned about crime
throughout the world and the value of any life taken by a murder or
homicide. We believe all human life is sacred and created by God and,
therefore, we must see all human life as significant and valuable.

"When governments implement the death penalty (capital punishment), then
the life of the convicted person is devalued and all possibility of
change in that person's life ends. We believe in the resurrection of
Jesus Christ and that the possibility of reconciliation with Christ
comes through repentance. This gift of reconciliation is offered to all
individuals without exception and gives all life new dignity and
sacredness. For this reason, we oppose the death penalty (capital
punishment) and urge its elimination from all criminal codes."

Before he left office in January 2003, Illinois Gov. George H. Ryan, a
United Methodist, closed that state's death row and commuted the
sentence of all 167 inmates there to life without parole. Concerned
about wrongful convictions, the Republican lawmaker had conducted a
four-year study of the state's judicial system and concluded the system
was unfixable.

In a Nov. 1, 2004, interview with United Methodist News Service, Ryan
said he would devote the rest of his life to working for an end to
capital punishment.

# # #

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org