We all stand under the sentence of death. But there is death that Is not part of the natural process of life. There is death that is premeditated, unnecessary, deliberate, violent, legal but unjust. Those in whom there is no guilt still die: Children are abused; women are battered; the old are hidden away; the poor are deprived of basic human rights; the unborn are executed; those diagnosed with AIDS are ostracized. The innocent are still condemned to death.
We stand, by our baptism, as brothers and sisters of all those condemned by society. We stand as the friends of the persecuted and speak once again our commitment: We promise to live together in the freedom of the children of God with all those condemned to death, but alive in God.