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The
Bishop's Notebook
20 April 2001
Friday in Easter Week
The recent decision by the Attorney General John Ashcroft to
have relatives of the victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing watch
Timothy McVeigh's execution on closed circuit television is
seriously misguided. This is not the moment to criticize victims'
families as they struggle to bring closure to a tormenting tragedy,
yet the decision aggravates the larger indecency of capital
punishment.
Plainly those who are earnestly trying to "see" Timothy's face
as he dies are on a journey of their own, one that they think
will serve up justice, and perhaps a balm for their loss. At
no time do we want to leave their side while the pain of such
grief remains. But this "event", for indeed, that is what it
is, is flawed from the start. The execution of Timothy is vengeance
pure and simple.
(Oddly, a discordant theme rises here as Americans face Terre
Haute, Indiana, site of the execution on May 16th. As a participant
in a conference call on this subject with CH Jackie Means observed
recently, the "face" of this man does not represent the hundreds
still on death row throughout our nation. They are persons of
color and often with far less certainty of their guilt.)
Our Church at nearly successive General Conventions since 1991
has urged dioceses "to work within their respective states"
for the abolition of capital punishment. This urgent subject,
as it was discussed in those triennial gatherings, is always
present as long as we mistake vengeance for God's justice. We
know through Christ of the restorative power of love. His life
and mission were based on the liberating freedom found when
one enters the profound reconciliation with pain and loss.
And that is our prayer for the days leading up to Timothy McVeigh's
death; that he know Christ's healing power of love and that
all who want to witness his end will be transformed instead
by the model of forgiveness and redemption in Our Lord Jesus
Christ. +gep
Note: To read The Presiding Bishop's Statement on the Execution
of Timothy McVeigh, please
click here.
Bishop's Notebook
Holy Wednesday
Chiemsee, Germany
Terry,
I did retrieve Gerry's message about Dedra's premature birth of
little Vince and I called the new Dad, Vince, in Florida and assured
him of our prayers over here. He was quite moved by the intercessions
we were offering up for his new son and Dedra. We have to watch
the health of the little guy. Spread the word about praying for
him. It was a sight to see groups of people here in prayer, even
in the hall, for this little family.
I'm eager to hear how David's trip went...6 to 3, that must be a
record!
We can chalk this Conference up as a total success. We have had
lively discussions and despite the weather have enjoyed this beautiful
lake with the Alps in the misty background. I am very thankful for
your maps. Very handy.
On Yugoslavia, we're struggling to complete a contact at this end.
Maybe Fr. Mal Roberts has some news at his end. I don't think he
wants to go alone! It would be a good idea to let Fr. Alexey know
of our difficulty now so that if we can't go because of this paperwork
snafu, he'll start to get used to the idea of our absence. I'm enjoying
being briefed by Fr. Gianni Martin and Fr. Daniel Karanja on Yugoslavia
from their tours in country.
I was worried about my energy for this current trip, you know, the
Conference, then four different visits on each of the successive
days of Holy Week, but so far so good. I owe a lot to Fr. Roger
Kappel who really created this wonderful event at Chiemsee. Brook
has been a wonder in getting impromptu music together as an enhancement
to our sessions. Burkhardt Link and Fr. Carl Wright have outdone
themselves with worship ingenuity. Behind the scenes Fr. Gianni
Martin has created a parallel youth program that we connected with
the adult study a couple of times. I'll write to you about Padre
Andrew Turner, Fr. Daniel Karanja, Fr. Steve Pike (who came all
the way up from Gaeta with his son Joey.) and Fr. Bill Barbee at
another time...I'm getting warnings from my aol connection that
this link is disintegrating! This has been a real team effort. I'm
very proud of everyone.
Tell Chris not to overdo it with the Rye Fire Department. Please
post this message as a "Notebook" article and outside
my office. +gep
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