‘Dead Man’ author addresses Catholic teens

Activist nun tells stories from death row, inner city

Published: January 28, 2013

By Dwain Hebda
Associate Editor

Dwain Hebda

Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, shares a moment Jan. 19 with Father Mauricio Carrasco of St. Theresa Church in Little Rock as she signs a copy of her book “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty.”

Dwain Hebda

About 600 teens from across the state attended the Weekend Extravaganza, held at the Doubletree Hotel and Robinson Center in Little Rock. Catholic teens and their chaperones listened to pro-life speakers, including Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, anti-death penalty activist and author.

A member of the Congregation of St. Joseph in New Orleans, Sister Helen’s ministry with the condemned came to national prominence in the mid-1990s when the story of her correspondence and friendship with death row inmate Patrick Sonnier was published as her first book “Dead Man Walking.” The book was subsequently made into a movie by the same name, earning Susan Sarandon an Academy Award for her portrayal of the diminutive but feisty nun.

Sister Helen dispelled any romanticized notion her young Arkansas audience may have had about her path from the killing room at Angola State Prison to the red carpet of Hollywood.

“Who in their life’s career says, ‘Now I’m gonna go to death row, and I’m gonna write a book ‘Dead Man Walking,’ and they’re gonna make a movie and Susan Sarandon is gonna play me and I’m gonna walk around like the famous nun.’? Nobody!” she said.

“People are starting to see that the money we put into the death penalty is money we’re not putting into health care for the poor, or education or other services.” Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ

Sister Helen led the audience through her formation as a nun, her privileged upbringing and her awakening to the true nature of poverty and despair in inner-city New Orleans. She challenged the youth to embrace the elements of pro-life that are hard, such as mercy for the convicted.

“We tell the families of victims, ‘We’re gonna kill the person who wronged you and you’re gonna get to watch. And that’s gonna heal you. That’s gonna give you justice,’” she said. “What does that say about us? What does that say about our society?

“Remember, when the government does it, it’s done in your name. Every one of our names is on that gurney.”

Following her speech, Sister Helen told Arkansas Catholic that she was encouraged by the traction the pro-life movement had gained in recent years regarding capital punishment. She said the issue is not guilt or innocence -— she repeatedly reminds audiences that inmates are not heroes, nor should the public ever be exposed to those who are justly convicted — however killing in the name of the state is no better than killing in the street.

In her roughly 110 yearly speaking engagements on the subject coast to coast, she said she senses a change in attitude wherever she goes.

“We’re on our way, the death penalty is in decline,” she said. “It’s going to take longer in the South, but even in southern states, even in Paris County, Texas, where they used to have 48 death sentences a year, now they might have two.”

Sister Helen said bleeding hearts are less to credit for the shift than science and economics. Advances in DNA testing have exonerated hundreds and the price of the death penalty — calculated by the many appeals and other delays that can occupy decades between sentence and execution — are getting peoples’ attention.

“I always used to hate it when people boiled it down to money; I always thought that money was at the bottom of the moral pole,” she said. “But as Dr. Martin Luther King once said, a budget is the most moral document. People are starting to see that the money we put into the death penalty is money we’re not putting into health care for the poor, or education or other services.”

Sister Helen’s remarks struck a chord with her young audience. Ana Osorio, 18, a member of Blessed Sacrament Church in Jonesboro, said she was impressed by what she heard at her first Weekend Extravaganza.

“I think she opened a lot of eyes. I think most teenagers automatically think about abortion and this helped them realize there are a lot of other things that pro-life means,” she said. “I’m pro-life, which means I’m against the death penalty. Her story made that commitment even stronger.”

Rebecca Roebuck, a member of Christ the King in Fort Smith, was attending her third Extravaganza. She researched Sister Helen prior to attending and said it was important to show the many sides of the pro-life issue in order for her generation to make conscientious decisions in the future.

“We’re the future of the Church,” she said, simply. “This is an issue that isn’t easily understood and it’s important that all the things that go into it are portrayed.”