The bishops of Florida asked Governor Ron DeSantis to stay the execution of William Silvia, who murdered his wife in 2006.
“To punish with lifelong imprisonment is not to minimize the heinousness of Mr. Silvia’s crimes,” said Michael Sheedy, the conference’s executive director. “It is rather to recognize with awe that God is the author of life, and to reserve to him the taking of human life except where it is otherwise impossible to maintain the common good.”
Last month, the bishops of Florida issued a pastoral letter on the death penalty.