PRISON MINISTRIES
JUSTICE, PEACE, AND INTEGRITY OF CREATION (JPIC)
PEN PAL PRISON MINISTRY
Write letters to a prisoner serving a life-sentence
Contact: Catherine Pleil
Co-Facilitators: Drew Doll and Erin Parish
Contact: Catherine Pleil
Co-Facilitators: Drew Doll and Erin Parish
RETURNING CITIZENS
(Sponsored by the Religious Coalition for a Non-Violent Durham)
Support Circles
Food Box Deliveries
- Join a small faith circle of support for individuals coming out of prison
Food Box Deliveries
- Tuesdays, 3-4:30 pm
- Adult parishioners deliver boxes of food (picked up from Iglesia Emanuel Church [2504 North Roxboro Street, Durham]) and deliver them to the homes of returning citizens in our Durham community.
VISITING THE IMPRISONED
Visit prisoners monthly
Butner Federal Facilities
- Communion Service for Catholic Men and “Low Facility” One-On-One Monthly Visitations (Through the Regional Coordinator for the Prison Visitation and Support [PVS] out of Philadelphia, PA)
Durham County Detention Facility
- Church Services (TBD)
Women’s Prison in Raleigh
- Weekly Visitation/Communion Service (Training must be obtained directly through the facility)
DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION ADVOCACY
Advocacy/education to bring an end to the death penalty.
Contact: Catherine Pleil
Contact: Catherine Pleil
OTHER EVENTS INCLUDE
Advocacy, marches, "Voices from Death Row" (discussion with man on death row), etc.
PRISON MINISTRY AND DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION ADVOCACY
STAND UP FOR ABOLITION
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Join Catholics for Abolition in North Carolina (CANC) as we stand in solidarity, with all men and women on Death Row in our State.
Every Monday throughout the Year 4:30-5:30 pm (November through Mid-March) 5-6 pm (The rest of the year) Outside Central Prison (1300 Western Boulevard, Raleigh 27606) |
PRAYER VIGILS FOR ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY
THIRD TUESDAYS VIRTUAL PRAYER VIGIL
CATHOLICS FOR ABOLITION IN NORTH CAROLINA (CANC)
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Join Catholics for Abolition in North Carolina (CANC) as we gather to pray to abolish the death penalty in NC and around the US.
Third Tuesday of every month Online at 12 pm (Noon) for a 15-minute, non-interactive prayer vigil (Please remain muted during the vigil) You can receive the link for the vigil by signing up here |
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FIRST FRIDAYS VIRTUAL PRAYER VIGIL
CATHOLIC MOBILIZING NETWORK (CMN)
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On the First Friday of each month, Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN) holds a Virtual Prayer Vigil to lament upcoming executions and bear witness to the inviolable dignity and sanctity of all human life. These virtual spaces offer a place to pray together as a faith community in response to the injustice of the death penalty. Each vigil includes time for guided prayer, petitions, Scripture reflections, and contemplative silence.
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These monthly gatherings feature the diverse voices of Catholic bishops, Church leaders, allies across the death penalty abolition movement, and people impacted by crime, violence, or incarceration. Virtual prayer vigils are held live via Zoom conference and livestreamed on CMN's YouTube page. Please register here. The day of the vigil, all those who register will receive an email with a link and additional instructions on how to join the event. Simultaneous Spanish language interpretation will now be available. Attendees will have the option to tune in to a live interpreter joining us on the Zoom call. Further instructions will be provided at the beginning of the vigil. Please invite anyone who would benefit from this service.
La interpretación simultánea en español ahora estará disponible. Los asistentes tendrán la opción de sintonizar un intérprete en vivo que se unirá a nosotros en la llamada de Zoom. Se proporcionarán más instrucciones al comienzo de la vigilia. ¡Invite a cualquiera que se beneficie de este servicio!
La interpretación simultánea en español ahora estará disponible. Los asistentes tendrán la opción de sintonizar un intérprete en vivo que se unirá a nosotros en la llamada de Zoom. Se proporcionarán más instrucciones al comienzo de la vigilia. ¡Invite a cualquiera que se beneficie de este servicio!
NORTH CAROLINA PEOPLE OF FAITH COMMUTATION LETTER TO GOVERNOR ROY COOPER
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Are you part of a religious or spiritual community and/or do you consider yourself a person of faith who lives in North Carolina? In a state where nearly 80 percent of people identify with a faith tradition, including Governor Cooper, people of faith can be powerful voices for justice.
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We encourage you to add your name to this letter asking the governor to commute all death sentences to prison terms. Please share the letter with others as well. This letter has been launched as a coalition/collaborative with North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NCCADP) and NC Council of Churches. North Carolinians have been working for decades to abolish the death penalty in our state. However, in 2022, our work took on a new urgency as we began a campaign to compel Governor Cooper to commute all of North Carolina’s death sentences to prison terms before he leaves office in 2024. The governor has broad power to address injustices in the criminal punishment system, and the death penalty is clearly unjust, racist, and error-prone. Our state currently has the fifth largest death row in the nation with more than 135 people, most of whom were sentenced more than 25 years ago under vastly different laws and public standards. This action by the governor would help ensure that no more cruel and inhumane executions will ever be carried out in North Carolina.
Link to Sign Petition
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This letter is the third letter so far of the NCCADP Commutation Campaign. We began this campaign on December 10th, 2022, with a march, rally, and letter from people who have lost family members to murder. In April 2023 we added a second letter signed by more than 300 North Carolina faith leaders. Our campaign is led by a diverse working group representing organizations across North Carolina, along with people directly impacted by the death penalty, including death row exonerees and people who have lost family members to murder.
DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION ADVOCACY WEBSITES
(Direct Link)
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(Direct Link)
(Direct Link)
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PREVIOUS PRISON MINISTRY AND DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION ADVOCACY
VERSES FROM WITHIN: ARTISTIC RESILIENCE ON DEATH ROW FROM CREATIVITY TO COMMUTATION
A BENEFIT FOR THE NORTH CAROLINA COALITION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY (NCCADP)
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Father Gonzalo and members of our JPIC community attended a benefit for the North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to The Death Penalty (NCCADP). In addition to speakers and live music, the event featured the creativity of people incarcerated on North Carolina’s death row, raising needed funds to support NCCADP’s Commutation Campaign. The event was hosted by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (5517 Durham Chapel-Hill Boulevard, Durham)
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LOCKED IN SOLIDRITY
A WEEK OF AWARENESS AND ACTION ON MASS INCARCERATION
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JPIC parishioners joined our Durham community in a week of events to remember the physical and emotional realities of mass incarceration. Father Gonzalo, Katushka Olave (our Latino Pastoral Associate), Robert Singagliese (our JPIC Core Team Community Organizing parishioner team leader), Erin Parish (our JPIC Pen Pal Prison Ministry parishioner co-leader), along with other JPIC parishioners took part in a prayer vigil and march to Durham County Jail in solidarity with those affected by incarceration led by DurhamCares and Durham Congregations in Action (DCIA).
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NOW IS THE TIME!
RALLY FOR COMMUTATION, COMMUNITY, AND COMPASSION
NORTH CAROLINA COALITION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY (NCCADP)
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Father Gonzalo and Robert Singagliese (our JPIC Core Team Community Organizing parishioner team leader), along with several of our IC JPIC parishioners joined people from across North Carolina once again to rally for "commutation, community, and compassion" of our state’s 137 death sentences!
"BEYOND EXECUTIONS: REMEMBERING 43 LOST AND CREATING A FUTURE WITHOUT DEATH ROW"
NORTH CAROLINA COALITION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY (NCCADP)
Immaculate Conception Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Promoting Human Dignity Prison Ministries parishioners joined people from across our state in Raleigh to remember the 17th anniversary of North Carolina’s last execution.
Registration and Information Link
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Organized by the North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NCCADP), we gathered to recommit ourselves to demand a future with no more death row. The program began inside Pullen Memorial Baptist Church with a reading of the names of the 43 people executed in NC since 1984 and a one-sentence eulogy for each person, along with the premiere of a new piece entitled “Cradle to the Gurney” by award-winning spoken-word poet Nick Courman. We marched to Central Prison, where a vigil was held in protest of our state's death penalty.
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DEATH PENALTY PROTEST MARCH
NORTH CAROLINA COALITION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY (NCCADP)
People from across North Carolina marched from Central Prison in Raleigh to the NC Governor’s Mansion to urge Governor Roy Cooper to commute the death sentences of the 135 people on North Carolina’s death row.
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Father Gonzalo and Catherine Pleil (our JPIC Promoting Human Dignity parishioner team leader), along with several other parishioners attended a march to tell Governor Cooper “No More Death Row!”
#NoMoreDeathRow #DecarcerateNowNC Thanks to all our parishioners who embodied Catholic social teaching by helping to bring attention to this important movement. |
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© All rights reserved.
If you have questions regarding our various JPIC ministries, please contact me directly.
Kennith M. Chiha, Director of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC)
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church - 901-A West Chapel Hill Street, Durham, NC 27701
(919) 682-3449 Ext. 293 - [email protected]
If you have questions regarding our various JPIC ministries, please contact me directly.
Kennith M. Chiha, Director of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC)
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church - 901-A West Chapel Hill Street, Durham, NC 27701
(919) 682-3449 Ext. 293 - [email protected]