Catholics react to Alabama execution of Nathan Woods

Birmingham, Ala., Mar 6, 2020 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- Following a controversial execution in Alabama on Thursday night, Catholics in the state have reiterated their opposition to the death penalty.

Late Thursday evening, the state of Alabama executed 43-year-old Nathan Woods by lethal injection.

Woods, who was black, was convicted in 2005 on four counts of capital murder and one count of attempted murder in the shootings of three white police officers in 2004 in Birmingham.

The three officers had arrived at a house where Woods and his co-defendant Kerry Spencer were believed to stash and sell drugs, and served Woods an arrest warrant for another misdemeanor offense.

As the officers tried to take Woods into custody, three of the officers were shot dead and a fourth survived.

The survivor, Officer Michael Collins, took cover behind the patrol car and testified that he saw Spencer shooting at him from inside the apartment.

The state conceded that Spencer shot the three officers, but argued that Woods was “an accomplice to the shootings,” according to local news KIRO 7. Woods, according to court records, allegedly threatened the officers if they were to enter the residence.

His co-defendant Kerry Spencer claimed that Woods was “100% innocent” in the killings of the officers, in a handwritten letter from prison.

Woods was sentenced to death by a jury, although not unanimously—Alabama is the only state where a death sentence does not require a unanimous vote by a jury.

A last-minute appeal to halt the execution was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday night.

Justice Clarence Thomas granted a temporary administrative stay to give the Court more time to fully consider the case. Later on Thursday evening, the application for a halt to the execution was denied by the full Court.

In response to Thursday night’s execution of Woods, the Diocese of Birmingham directed CNA to a joint statement of the bishops of Alabama and Mississippi on capital punishment.

“As Christians, we remember that wrongdoing, no matter how evil, deserves punishment but not vengeance,” the statement reads.

“God can touch and change even the most bitter and hardened heart. Mindful of this, we do not support the execution of criminals. When we execute someone, we take away any opportunity they have to repent and develop a relationship with God in this life,” the bishops stated.

The Archdiocese of Mobile referred to a column written by Archbishop Thomas Rodi in The Catholic Week in August of 2018.

“The death penalty is not a private matter,” the archbishop wrote in the column.

“It is not the grieving loved ones who execute those found guilty, it is not merely the governor who executes, it is not merely the warden of the prison who executes, it is all of us, the citizens of Alabama, since capital punishment is the law that we have enacted and enforce.”

“I remain convinced that we the citizens of Alabama need to end capital punishment in our civil courts,” he wrote.

The group Catholic Mobilizing Network, which advocates for an end to use of the death penalty, was following Woods’ case and asked supporters for prayers.

“At times like these we may feel at a loss of what to do in the face of such egregious acts of violence. These are the moments when we pray for God’s guidance and Grace. Please pray, on behalf of Nathaniel Woods that he may come to know God’s peace and ever-present mercy,” the group stated on its website.

Pope Francis in 2018 approved new language for the Catechism on the death penalty, calling it “inadmissible.”

The new language states that “the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,’ and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”


If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.


9 Comments

  1. Not judging the correctness of this particular case, I would remind Archbishop Rodi that retributive justice is not vengeance.

  2. I’d mostly agree with the bishop but I think “virtually ” ending capital punishment is a better plan.
    There’s always the possibility of an extraordinary case where someone is so dangerous to their community, including those who are incarcerated with them and prison employees, that execution may be the only remedy to protect the lives of others.

  3. This particular case grieves me greatly. It did not seem necessary to execute him.
    But a complete prohibition on capital punishment. No way. As stated by another poster, CP is retributive justice, not vengeance. It has always been such, despite what our politically correct pope and bishops want us to believe.

  4. “Catholics react”, eh? And all, it appears from the article, with exactly the same reaction, even though this is an issue on which there can be legitimate disagreement and Catholics generally have disagreement even where none is permissible. Make the title “local bishops react” and you’re on the right track, but otherwise you are cherry-picking, or worse, suggesting that anyone who does not condemn this execution is “not really Catholic”.

  5. Catholic priests upset about death penalty being done in Alabama March 11,2020. So y’all think this man was innocent? Were you there he had 16 years to live but the 3 police officers that was murderd did not have those years. They had children wife family that had to go on without him. N Woods had appeal after appeal and he was judged by his Peers. He didn’t give those police officers any sympathy he wrote rap songs in prison about killing them. So y’all stay in your LANE. N Woods had a choice to be at his friends house where his friend was the trigger man he was a part of the crime Murder!!!!!!

    • LN,
      I don’t think anyone seriously believes that man to have been innocent. By the time most folks get incarcerated for a serious offense they’ve committed a string of other crimes that either weren’t detected, didn’t result in a conviction, or were plea bargained down.
      I used to do background checks at my employment and I’m not naive about human nature. We encountered all kinds of criminal folk including a serial killer who probably should have been executed rather than let loose on the public. That’s how we learned that plea bargaining homicide down to manslaughter allows a clean employment background check. He later was arrested for having killed and mutilated several women out of state.
      The question here was more did Nathan Woods deserve execution. If his death was the only remedy to protect society and others in prison with him, ok. If not,then from a Catholic perspective I would say no.

      • Surely you know that before the JPII and Francis innovations, capital punishment was upheld in Church teaching more on grounds of just retribution than the protection of society? The point has been made documented pretty exhaustively on this site over the last couple of years.

  6. Following a controversial execution in Alabama on Thursday night, Catholics(sic) in the state have reiterated their opposition to the death penalty.

    Another CNA editorial masquerading as a news article.

1 Trackback / Pingback

  1. SATVRDAY LATE EDITION – Big Pulpit

Leave a Reply to Gary Lockhart Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.


*