COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston firmly asserted its opposition to South Carolina's first execution in over a decade in a letter released on Friday.
The Diocese released a statement likening capital punishment to abortion and euthanasia.
"Respect for life is, and must remain, unconditional," the Diocese said.
The message follows South Carolina's announcement that Richard Bernard Moore would be executed on April 29. Moore has sat on death row for more than two decades for the killing of a Spartanburg convenience store clerk, James Mahoney.
However, the news also comes as the state brings back execution by electric chair and adds another - death by firing squad. Both of these, the Diocese condemned.
"Mr. Moore must choose his means of execution – between the firing squad and electric chair," the statement read. "This is modern-day barbarism."
The Diocese went on to say that Moore's execution will not undo what Moore had already done decades earlier.
"Justice is not restored when another person is killed," it said.
Moore has since asked the courts to halt his execution until judges can determine if either method is considered cruel and unusual punishment. The Catholic Diocese of Charleston is also pushing for South Carolina to commute Moore's sentence "and conduct a meaningful review of his case."
"The Church prays for the day when the state reverses its decision to end the cruel and unjust practice of capital punishment," the letter concluded.