Bishop urges clemency for Davis
Around the Diocese
The young men standing in front of the altar at an interfaith vigil for Troy Davis at Sacred Heart Church, Savannah, on July 14 are: Rahsheim Wright, an unidentified youth, Byron Spellman, Robert Coleman, Elijah West, and Aaron Charles.
The young men standing in front of the altar at an interfaith vigil for Troy Davis at Sacred Heart Church, Savannah, on July 14 are: Rahsheim Wright, an unidentified youth, Byron Spellman, Robert Coleman, Elijah West, and Aaron Charles.
On June 13, Bishop J. Kevin Boland wrote a letter to Garland R. Hunt, chair of the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles to ask for clemency for Troy Anthony Davis, a Georgia death row prisoner, who was scheduled to be executed on July 17. In his letter, the bishop expressed his deep sympathy for the family and friends of Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail, whom Davis was convicted of murdering 18 years ago. “The perpetrator of this crime needs to be punished through incarceration,” the bishop wrote. “The State of Georgia has every right to carry out their obligations in this regard.”
But he added that “in the case of Troy Davis, the evidence presented is not clear and compelling and leaves room for reasonable doubt. It appears that in fact Mr. Davis may be innocent. Executing Mr. Davis could be an irrevocable error and a wrongful death. It is in the best interests of all of us that the circumstances surrounding this case be heard in order to prevent the execution of an innocent man. All of life is sacred and the human dignity of each person must be upheld.” Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, and Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory have also written to the board to ask for clemency for Davis. The board granted a 90-day stay of execution on June 16.
During an interfaith vigil for Davis held on July 14 at Sacred Heart Church in Savannah, a half-dozen young black men from the Savannah area donned white tee shirts inscribed with simple letters labeling themselves “Troy Davis” to symbolize his plight.
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