Voice for mercy
Fr. Mark Miller has spent decades fighting the death penalty and calling Catholics to a consistent ethic of life
For decades, Fr. Mark Miller, C.PP.S., has been a relentless voice for mercy in the fight to abolish the death penalty. As a parish priest in Kansas City, he first joined the movement with the Western Missouri Coalition Against the Death Penalty. His journey deepened through years of ministry in Texas, where he visited inmates in the county jails, offering prayer and comfort in the darkest hours.
He has stood on lonely roadsides, holding signs that cry out against injustice, and kept vigil on execution nights, praying for mercy as the clock ticked toward death. In those moments, he bore witness not only to the condemned but to the soul of a society and a Church wrestling with its conscience.
Today, as vice chair of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty (MADP), Fr. Mark continues to campaign for clemency, emphasizing that the value of a person does not depend on innocence or guilt, but on the inherent dignity bestowed by the Creator.
“We think it’s wrong to execute people, regardless of their innocence or guilt,” Fr. Mark says. “Does being guilty remove your value as a human being? Does our value come from us or from the Creator?”
The Church’s evolving witness
The Catholic Church’s stance on the death penalty has evolved over centuries, moving from conditional acceptance to unequivocal opposition. Fr. Mark traces this journey, noting how recent popes have called the faithful to reject capital punishment as incompatible with a pro-life ethic. The Catechism now teaches that the death penalty is “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and the dignity of the person.” Yet, as Fr. Mark observes, many Catholics and bishops remain hesitant to speak out, focusing advocacy on abortion while neglecting the death penalty.
When someone is executed, Fr. Mark says, “On the death certificate, the reason for death is ‘legal homicide.’ As citizens of the state, you have all been guilty of homicide because the execution is done in our name. We are giving the governor the right to execute.”
The human cost
Heidi Moore, executive director of MADP, brings both professional expertise and personal perspective to the movement. She holds a PhD in Public Policy Analysis and a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Criminal Justice. She has worked with justice-impacted individuals for more than 20 years and draws from her personal and family history to inform her work.
Missouri’s unique system, where death-sentenced inmates are “mainstreamed” rather than isolated, means that each execution reverberates through the prison, affecting staff and fellow inmates alike. “The additional trauma in victims, on spiritual advisors, on the staff of Department of Corrections … the staff, some of which do not support the death penalty, have no say,” Heidi says.
Legislative advocacy
While abolition remains the ultimate goal, advocates with MADP also focus on incremental reforms, such as closing Missouri’s “judicial loophole,” which allows judges to impose death sentences even when juries are deadlocked. Bipartisan support, especially from Catholic legislators, is growing, but progress is slow.
Heidi gives the example of Lance Shockley, who was executed in October 2025. “The judge is the one who imposed the death sentence,” she says. “The jury found him guilty unanimously but wasn’t ready to say he should die for this. The judge came in and sentenced him to death. It’s legal in Missouri.”
“We’re always going to support abolition,” she says. “I would be grateful if I was out of a job because Missouri no longer had the death penalty. But we’re chipping away because that keeps people from being executed.”
Mercy, conversion, and the Gospel call
Fr. Mark and Heidi Moore emphasize the spiritual dimension of their work. The Gospel calls believers to extend mercy and seek the conversion of sinners. The Missionaries of the Precious Blood embody this charism, offering hospitality, prayer, and solidarity to those affected by the criminal justice system.
“We have to look at these social issues in a way that is an extension of what we believe the Gospel message is,” says Fr. Mark. “If we believe the Gospel message about whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, if that doesn’t get applied to the social issues, then it’s just a feel-good, empty, kind of thing.”
The first step: education
“The important thing is to educate ourselves,” Fr. Mark says. “First of all, find out what’s happening in your state. What are some of the rules, regulations, and policies that are still on the books? Even if they haven’t been used, they should be wiped off the books. Then we have to educate ourselves in terms of asking, where does the value of life come from?”
“It takes people a different number of years to go through the conversion process. And by executing them, we remove the possibility of their ever coming to a converted position.”