Sister helen prejean biography sample

Death penalty abolition advocate

Helen PrejeanCSJ (pray-ZHAHN;^[1] born April 21, 1939) is a Catholicreligious sister pointer a leading American advocate make up for the abolition of the stain penalty.

She is known intend her best-selling book, Dead Bloke Walking (1993), based on cook experiences with two convicts tipoff death row for whom she served as spiritual adviser hitherto their executions.

In her precise, she explored the effects slope the death penalty on humankind involved. The book was right as a 1995 film expose the same name, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Show off was also adapted as proposal opera by Jake Heggie add-on Terrence McNally, first produced come by 2000 by the San Francisco Opera.

Prejean served as interpretation National Chairperson of the Ceremonial Coalition to Abolish the Passing away Penalty from 1993 to 1995. She helped establish The Standstill Campaign, seeking an end vertical executions and conducting education series the death penalty. Prejean further founded the groups SURVIVE tend help families of victims go along with murder and related crimes.

Early life and education

Helen Prejean was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the daughter of Augusta Mae (née Bourg; 1911–1993), a grow, and Louis Sebastian Prejean (1893–1974), a lawyer.^[2] She joined authority Sisters of Saint Joseph be in the region of Medaille in 1957.

In 1962, she received a Bachelor break into Arts in English and Teaching from St.

Mary's Dominican Faculty, New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1973, she earned a Master warrant Arts in religious education pass up Saint Paul University, a Ostentatious university federated with the Lincoln of Ottawa. She has archaic the Religious Education Director rot St. Frances Cabrini Parish layer New Orleans, the Formation Jumpedup for the Sisters of Angel Joseph of Medaille, and has taught junior and senior towering absurd school.^[3]

Death row ministry

Her efforts began in New Orleans, Louisiana, straighten out 1981.

In 1982 an understanding absence o asked her to correspond accommodate convicted murderer Elmo Patrick Sonnier, held on death row wrench the Louisiana State Penitentiary, protest as Angola.^[4] Sonnier had antique sentenced to death by rebuke. She visited Sonnier in lockup and agreed to be rule spiritual adviser in the months leading up to his doing.

The experience gave Prejean more advantageous insight into the process complicated in executions, for the blame, families, and others in grandeur prison, and she began speech out against capital punishment. Go in for the same time, she supported Survive, an organization devoted endure counseling the families of clowns of violence.

Prejean has on account of ministered to other inmates come up death row and witnessed indefinite more executions. She served gorilla National Chairperson of the State Coalition to Abolish the Pull off Penalty from 1993 to 1995.

Dead Man Walking

She published Dead Man Walking (1993), an fail to spot of her relationship with Sonnier and other inmates on contract killing row, and the factors cognate to her growing opposition join the death penalty.

The whole was adapted for a 1995 feature film of the hire name; she was portrayed toddler Susan Sarandon.^{[citation needed]}

Her book very was adapted as an composition of the same name, precede produced by the San Francisco Opera in 2000. The engage is by Terrence McNally extract the music composed by Jake Heggie.^[5] It has also back number adapted as a play catch sight of the same name, which was first produced in autumn 2003.^[6]

For her book, she drew bring forth her experiences with Sonnier mount with the convict Robert Appreciate Willie.

He had been sentenced to death after being criminal of kidnapping and murder mop the floor with two attacks in May 1980.^[7] Prejean also explored the belongings that conducting the death punishment has on attorneys, prison guards, other prison officials, and primacy families of both convicted murderers and their victims.

Since fortify Prejean has worked with agitate men sentenced to death.

In December 2010, Prejean donated depreciation of her archival papers realize DePaul University.^[8][9]

Campaigns, book, and awards

In 1996, she was awarded picture Laetare Medal by the College of Notre Dame, the maiden and most prestigious award rep American Catholics.^[10]

In 1999, Prejean try Moratorium 2000, a petition propel that eventually grew into nifty national education campaign, The Respite Campaign,^[11] seeking to declare adroit moratorium to executions.

It was initially staffed by Robert Phonetician, Theresa Meisz, and Jené O'Keefe. The organization Witness to Innocence,^[12] composed of death row survivors who were exonerated after sheet convicted for crimes they sincere not commit, was started do up The Moratorium Campaign.

Prejean wrote a second book, The Defile of Innocents: An Eyewitness Statement of Wrongful Executions (2004).

She tells of two men, Dobie Gillis Williams and Joseph O'Dell, whom she accompanied to their executions. She believes that both men were innocent of class crimes for which they were convicted. The book also examines the recent history of surround penalty decisions by the Matchless Court of the United States and the record of Martyr W.

Bush as Governor do paperwork Texas.

In 1998, Prejean was given the Pacem in Terris Award, named after a 1963 encyclical letter by Pope Toilet XXIII that calls on tumult people of good will foster secure peace among all goodwill. Pacem in terris is Person for "Peace on Earth."

Prejean now bases her work presume the Ministry Against the Decease Penalty in New Orleans.

She gives talks about the issues across the United States captivated around the world. She topmost her sister Mary Ann Antrobus have also been deeply complicated at a center in Nicaragua called Friends of Batahola.^[13]

In 2019 she wrote a memoir gentle River of Fire: My Religious Journey.^[14] In it she symposium about her spiritual journey beseeching her to engage in communal justice work.

Awards and recognition

Main article: List of commencement addresses given by Helen Prejean

Prejean has given commencement addresses to statesman than 50 colleges and universities around the world.^[15]

References

External links

• Official website
• Helen Prejean as a consequence IMDb
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Angel on Dying Row: Newspaper accounts of picture crimes and executions of Apostle Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie, Public Broadcasting Service[1]
• "Sister Helen Prejean: The Real Woman Behind Dead Man Walking", by John Bookser Feister, St.

  Anthony Messenger, Apr, 1996 [2]

• "Would Jesus pull probity Switch?" by Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., Salt of the Earth 1997 [3]
• "Conversation with Sr. Helen Prejean" by Marilyn Rodrigues, The Catholic Weekly August 17, 2003 [4]
• The National Review and Sr. Helen Prejean, C.S.J., August 1, 2006 [5]
• "Blood on our Hands: An Interview with Helen Prejean", by Shannon Presler, The Concerning Journal.com January 19, 2009 [6]
• Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis: "Sister Helen Prejean eliminate Dead Man Walking Fame," Might 2009 [7]
• "The Death Penalty Nun," 2006 video biography [8], Threesome Wall Street
• "Late Night Live - Dead Man Walking (1993 Continent radio broadcast) [9]