Catholics in Iowa are joining others nationwide in a protest as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh is being executed today. McVeigh is set to die of a lethal injection at 7 a-m Iowa time. Pat Finan, the social justice coordinator for the Des Moines Catholic Diocese, says the church cannot condone the execution. He says Catholics believe life is sacred from conception to a natural death, and execution is not a natural death.Survivors and family members of the victims asked to witness the execution of McVeigh, saying it would give them closure. Finan says nothing good comes from McVeigh’s death. He says it perpetuates the cycle of violence with another killing and the Church prefers that all life be respected.Finan says life in prison without parole is sufficient punishment for McVeigh. Finan says the one thing McVeigh’s case has done is to bring more attention to the issue of capital punishment.Finan says churches are asked to ring their bells at 7 a-m in protest of the execution. Bill McCarthy of Des Moines is among 30 witnesses at McVeigh’s execution. The Des Moines assistant police chief won a lottery to be a witness. McCarthy’s brother, Jim, was killed in the 1995 bombing.
