Archbishop Coakley receives award for anti-death penalty advocacy

Archbishop Paul Coakley received the Archbishop Fiorenza Dignity and Life Award from the Catholic Mobilizing Network on Oct. 21. The ceremony took place during the Justice Reimagined Awards and Celebration at the apostolic nunciature in Washington, D.C.

The award is named after Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, a civil rights advocate and abolitionist. During his acceptance speech, Coakley, who serves as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that current circumstances in the United States have increased his focus on advocating for those on death row. He stated that the Church and the nation must recognize the inhumanity of executions carried out in their name.

Coakley has a history of opposing capital punishment in Oklahoma and elsewhere. On Oct. 9, he issued a statement criticizing a plan by the Trump administration to livestream the military execution of Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood mass shooter. Coakley described the decision as a promotion of a culture of death and called for it to be reconsidered.