We hear from the Catholics

One of the most important developments in the campaign to end executions recently has been a press conference held at the National Press Club here in Washington, D.C., where it was announced that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is launching a new campaign to effectively end the use of the death penalty in the U.S.

The Bishops released a poll showing 48 percent of U.S. Catholics in favor of the death penalty -- down sharply from several years ago. In addition, the majority of Catholics who "strongly favor" the death penalty is at 20 percent -- down a whopping 20 points from 2001. And the poll found that younger Catholics are sharply opposed to the death penalty and 30 percent of Catholics who once favored capital punishment now oppose it.

To check out the Bishops' spiffy new web site, go here.

And to look at their new brochure (it's in PDF format) go here.