BOOKS: ​“13 Ways of Looking at the Death Penalty”

The recent book, 13 Ways of Looking at the Death Penalty, by Mario Marazziti, explores the United States’ con­tin­u­ing use of the death penal­ty in a world com­mu­ni­ty that is increas­ing­ly reject­ing the prac­tice. The Philadelphia Inquirer calls the book ​“an inter­est­ing, com­pelling look at the cul­tur­al and reli­gious under­pin­nings of the death penal­ty and how we got here. More impor­tant, [Marazziti’s] inter­views with U.S. death-row inmates — liv­ing and now-deceased — their sur­vivors, and their vic­tims’ fam­i­lies high­light the gray of a sub­ject too many paint in black and white.” 

Marazziti, who was deeply involved in the efforts that led the United Nations to call for a glob­al mora­to­ri­um on cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment, draws on his expe­ri­ences as a co-founder of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and as spokesper­son for the Community of Sant’Egidio, a pro­gres­sive Catholic orga­ni­za­tion based in Rome. Pope Francis’ appeal last month for Catholic gov­ern­ment offi­cials to work to halt all exe­cu­tions dur­ing the Church’s Holy Year of Mercy came on the eve of an inter­na­tion­al con­fer­ence against the death penal­ty orga­nized by the Sant’Egidio Community. 

Marazziti’s book includes research, per­son­al nar­ra­tives of those direct­ly affect­ed by the death penal­ty, and Marazziti’s own reflec­tions on the issue. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, ​“13 Ways of Looking at the Death Penalty by Mario Marazziti is a deeply mov­ing and cogent­ly argued account of why an abom­inable prac­tice should be abol­ished. The death penal­ty dehu­man­izes those who use it. Its mis­takes can­not be corrected.”