On July 26, Florida’s Catholic Bishops issued a pastoral letter on the death penalty. The bishops expressed concern over the increasing number of executions in the state. In 2025, Florida executed 19 death row individuals by lethal injection. One of them was an 80-year-old man who had been convicted of a double murder in 1987.
In the pastoral letter, the bishops cautioned against the use of the death penalty: “In addition to Florida’s alarming rate of executions, our state legislature has passed laws in recent years to expand the use of the death penalty. These include repealing the unanimous jury requirement in death penalty sentencing— lowering the threshold to just eight of twelve votes, the lowest of any state—expanding the range of crimes and the class of offenders for which the death penalty may be imposed.”
The bishops stated that the letter was “to remind Catholics of the teaching of our Church against the use of the death penalty in situations—like our own—where bloodless means are sufficient to punish offenders and protect public safety. We also appeal to the consciences of all citizens of our state as part of the ongoing public debate over this issue.”
The full text of the letter can be read here.