The following appeared in the Sacramento Bee on April 4, 2026
During Holy Week, as Christians anticipate Easter — and recall how a public change of heart led to what Christians consider the ultimate sacrifice in a state-sanctioned execution — it is a fitting moment to reflect on how justice is carried out today.
California holds the largest death row population in the nation, with hundreds of men and women still living under a sentence of death. Yet our state has not carried out an execution in years and has already begun moving toward a more humane vision of justice.
In 2019, Governor Newsom placed a moratorium on executions and dismantled the death chamber at San Quentin. Under his leadership, California has also begun implementing the California Model within its correctional system — an approach that prioritizes accountability, rehabilitation, and restorative justice. These actions represent an important shift in how our state understands justice and public safety.
But one decisive step remains.
Hundreds of individuals remain on death row. As long as their sentences stand, the machinery of capital punishment remains intact — waiting only for a future governor to revive it. We urge Gov. Newsom to commute all death sentences within his authority — those involving a single felony conviction — to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and to petition the California Supreme Court to approve the commutation of the remaining sentences, so that California’s progress toward a more just system cannot easily be reversed.
For more than four decades, the Catholic bishops of the United States have called for an end to the death penalty because it is incompatible with respect for the dignity of the human person. That belief flows from the Gospel itself: every person is created in the image and likeness of God, and that dignity is never lost — even after the commission of serious crimes.
Today, there is growing recognition that the death penalty does not accomplish what justice truly requires. It does not restore victims. It does not rehabilitate offenders. It does not strengthen communities. Instead, it perpetuates a cycle of violence that leaves wounds unhealed.
The Catholic Church teaches clearly that the death penalty is no longer morally acceptable. As St. John Paul II wrote, “modern society in fact has the means of effectively suppressing crime by rendering criminals harmless without definitively denying them the chance to reform” (Evangelium Vitae, 56). Modern systems of detention can protect the public while preserving the possibility of redemption. For this reason, the Church teaches that the death penalty is “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” (CCC, 2267).
This approach also opens the door to restorative justice—a path that aims to address the harm more fully. It brings victims, offenders, and communities together to confront the wrongdoing, foster accountability, and pursue healing whenever possible. Just as Palm Sunday’s hosannas give way to the cries for crucifixion, yet lead to the promise of resurrection and new life, our justice system can also move beyond retribution towards mercy, healing, and the opportunity for transformation.
Commuting death sentences does not mean ignoring the suffering caused by crime. Victims and their families carry burdens that often last a lifetime, and their pain must never be minimized. True justice requires that we listen to them, accompany them with compassion, and ensure that their voices are heard. A just system must honor both accountability and the enduring needs of those who have been harmed.
Across California, every Catholic diocese supports some form of restorative justice ministry. These ministries accompany victims and their families, support those who are incarcerated, and help communities move forward. They reflect a conviction that justice is strongest when it protects society while also affirming the dignity of every person involved.
California has already begun moving in this direction. Under Governor Newsom’s leadership, many individuals once held on death row have been transferred to other correctional facilities while remaining securely incarcerated.
But the work is not yet finished. Commuting the remaining death sentences would bring California’s policies into alignment with this vision and ensure that capital punishment cannot quietly return under a future administration.
History often remembers leaders not simply for the policies they start, but for the moral commitments they bring to completion.
Completing this step would ensure that California’s turn away from the death penalty becomes not a temporary policy, but a lasting legacy.
Bishop Oscar Cantú is bishop of the Diocese of San José and president of the California Catholic Conference.