Editing Consistent life ethic (section)

===Capital punishment===
{{See also|Catholic Church and capital punishment}}
In a 1977 statement following the ''[[Gregg v. Georgia]]'' decision—which reaffirmed the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court's]] acceptance of the use of the [[Capital punishment in the United States|death penalty in the United States]]—Bernardin wrote, "Many have expressed the view [...] that in this day of increasing violence and disregard for human life, a return to the use of capital punishment can only lead to further erosion of respect for life and to the increased brutalization of our society."<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 February 1977 |title=Archbishop Bernardin Opposes Death Penalty |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1977/02/04/archbishop-bernardin-opposes-death-penalty/58957866-d294-4250-b2ec-7444d61e8b5a/ |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref>

Bernardin's opposition to [[capital punishment]] was rooted in the conviction that an atmosphere of respect for life must pervade a society, and resorting to the death penalty would not support this attitude.<ref>Bernardin, Cardinal Joseph A.: ''The Seamless Garment: Writings on the Consistent Ethic of Life'' Orbis Books, 2008.</ref> Modern-day adherents to the consistent life ethic continue to oppose the use of capital punishment; in this advocacy, some echo Bernardin's appeal to the [[sanctity of life]], while others emphasize the relationships between class, [[Race and capital punishment in the United States|race and capital punishment]] to argue that there is not a way for capital punishment to be used justly.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Costello |first=Carol |date=28 May 2014 |title=Can you be pro-life and pro-death penalty? |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/05/14/opinion/costello-pro-life-pro-death-penalty/index.html |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rehumanize {{!}} On Capital Punishment |url=https://www.rehumanizeintl.org/capital-punishment |access-date=21 August 2022 |website=Rehumanize International}}</ref>

One outspoken anti-death penalty activist is Sister [[Helen Prejean]]. Her books ''[[Dead Man Walking (book)|Dead Man Walking]]'' and ''The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account to Wrongful Executions'' are autobiographical accounts of the time she spent ministering to death row inmates.<ref>[[Rachel MacNair|MacNair, Rachel M.]], and Zunes, Stephen: ''Consistently Opposing Killing: from abortion to assisted suicide, the death penalty and war'', pages 58–60. Praeger Publishers, 2008.</ref>