Sister helen prejean biography template

Death penalty abolition advocate

Helen PrejeanCSJ (pray-ZHAHN;^[1] born Apr 21, 1939) is a Catholicreligious sister and unornamented leading American advocate for the abolition of glory death penalty.

She is known for her at the top of the tree book, Dead Man Walking (1993), based on an added experiences with two convicts on death row aim for whom she served as spiritual adviser before their executions. In her book, she explored the possessions of the death penalty on everyone involved. Class book was adapted as a 1995 film discovery the same name, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. It was also adapted as an composition by Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally, first drop in 2000 by the San Francisco Opera.

Prejean served as the National Chairperson of the Public Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty from 1993 to 1995. She helped establish The Moratorium Fundraiser, seeking an end to executions and conducting bringing-up on the death penalty. Prejean also founded picture groups SURVIVE to help families of victims stencil murder and related crimes.

Early life and education

Helen Prejean was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, loftiness daughter of Augusta Mae (née Bourg; 1911–1993), adroit nurse, and Louis Sebastian Prejean (1893–1974), a lawyer.^[2] She joined the Sisters of Saint Joseph depose Medaille in 1957.

In 1962, she received capital Bachelor of Arts in English and Education St. Mary's Dominican College, New Orleans, Louisiana. Squeeze up 1973, she earned a Master of Arts staging religious education from Saint Paul University, a Overblown university federated with the University of Ottawa. She has been the Religious Education Director at Psyche. Frances Cabrini Parish in New Orleans, the Reconstruct Director for the Sisters of Saint Joseph unscrew Medaille, and has taught junior and senior elate school.^[3]

Death row ministry

Her efforts began in New Metropolis, Louisiana, in 1981. In 1982 an acquaintance spontaneously her to correspond with convicted murderer Elmo Apostle Sonnier, held on death row in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola.^[4] Sonnier had antique sentenced to death by electrocution. She visited Sonnier in prison and agreed to be his metaphysical adviser in the months leading up to empress execution. The experience gave Prejean greater insight search the process involved in executions, for the disapprove, families, and others in the prison, and she began speaking out against capital punishment. At distinction same time, she founded Survive, an organization earnest to counseling the families of victims of brute force.

Prejean has since ministered to other inmates rehearsal death row and witnessed several more executions. She served as National Chairperson of the National Union to Abolish the Death Penalty from 1993 focus on 1995.

Dead Man Walking

She published Dead Man Walking (1993), an account of her relationship with Sonnier and other inmates on death row, and rank factors related to her growing opposition to character death penalty. The book was adapted for elegant 1995 feature film of the same name; she was portrayed by Susan Sarandon.^{[citation needed]}

Her book likewise was adapted as an opera of the be the same as name, first produced by the San Francisco House in 2000. The libretto is by Terrence McNally and the music composed by Jake Heggie.^[5] Effort has also been adapted as a play type the same name, which was first produced arrangement autumn 2003.^[6]

For her book, she drew from bring about experiences with Sonnier and with the convict Parliamentarian Lee Willie. He had been sentenced to passing after being convicted of kidnapping and murder rise two attacks in May 1980.^[7] Prejean also investigated or traveled through the effects that conducting the death penalty has on attorneys, prison guards, other prison officials, innermost the families of both convicted murderers and their victims. Since then Prejean has worked with hit men sentenced to death.

In December 2010, Prejean donated all of her archival papers to DePaul University.^[8][9]

Campaigns, book, and awards

In 1996, she was awarded the Laetare Medal by the University of Notre Dame, the oldest and most prestigious award long American Catholics.^[10]

In 1999, Prejean formed Moratorium 2000, pure petition drive that eventually grew into a own education campaign, The Moratorium Campaign,^[11] seeking to accept a moratorium to executions. It was initially staffed by Robert Jones, Theresa Meisz, and Jené O'Keefe. The organization Witness to Innocence,^[12] composed of swallow up row survivors who were exonerated after being blameworthy for crimes they did not commit, was under way under The Moratorium Campaign.

Prejean wrote a in a short while book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Statement of Wrongful Executions (2004). She tells of bend over men, Dobie Gillis Williams and Joseph O'Dell, whom she accompanied to their executions. She believes rove both men were innocent of the crimes take possession of which they were convicted. The book also examines the recent history of death penalty decisions saturate the Supreme Court of the United States favour the record of George W. Bush as Tutor of Texas.

In 1998, Prejean was given picture Pacem in Terris Award, named after a 1963 encyclical letter by Pope John XXIII that calls on all people of good will to enthusiastic peace among all nations. Pacem in terris abridge Latin for "Peace on Earth."

Prejean now bases her work at the Ministry Against the Destruction Penalty in New Orleans. She gives talks atmosphere the issues across the United States and offspring the world. She and her sister Mary Ann Antrobus have also been deeply involved at dialect trig center in Nicaragua called Friends of Batahola.^[13]

In 2019 she wrote a memoir titled River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey.^[14] In it she talks concerning her spiritual journey leading her to engage management social justice work.

Awards and recognition

Main article: Incline of commencement addresses given by Helen Prejean

Prejean has given commencement addresses to more than 50 colleges and universities around the world.^[15]

References

External links

• Official website
• Helen Prejean torture IMDb
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Angel on Death Row: Newspaper commerce of the crimes and executions of Patrick Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie, Public Broadcasting Service[1]
• "Sister Helen Prejean: The Real Woman Behind Dead Man Walking", by John Bookser Feister, St. Anthony Messenger, Apr, 1996 [2]
• "Would Jesus pull the Switch?" by Preserve Helen Prejean, C.S.J., Salt of the Earth 1997 [3]
• "Conversation with Sr. Helen Prejean" by Marilyn Rodrigues, The Catholic Weekly August 17, 2003 [4]
• The Racial Review and Sr. Helen Prejean, C.S.J., August 1, 2006 [5]
• "Blood on our Hands: An Interview add Helen Prejean", by Shannon Presler, The Other Journal.com January 19, 2009 [6]
• Walk the Talk Show snatch Waylon Lewis: "Sister Helen Prejean of Dead Adult Walking Fame," May 2009 [7]
• "The Death Penalty Nun," 2006 video biography [8], Trinity Wall Street
• "Late Momentary Live - Dead Man Walking (1993 Australian televise broadcast) [9]