Lenten campaign 2026
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The death penalty was carried out against Frank Walls only a week before Christmas in 2025. Among an increasing number of executions in Florida and nationwide, his case highlights the Church’s advocacy work for life and against the death penalty.
In a recent webinar with Catholic Mobilizing Network, Maria di Liberato explained that she represented Walls for the last decade. Walls was convicted of horrendous crimes when he was 19. He had a demonstrable intellectual disability and was sentenced to death, though the law provides an exemption for people with these disabilities. Despite appeals, Walls died by lethal injection at the end of 2025.
Liberato stated that Walls was “a Catholic who had a childlike innocence and held on to his faith" throughout his many years in prison “bringing the Catholic religion to so many men on death row.”
The state of the death penalty in 2025
Mr. Walls’ death was 1 of 47 sentences carried out in 2025, a sharp increase from 24 executions in 2024, the Catholic Mobilizing Network reports.
The executions were carried out in 11 states, with Florida performing 40% of them. These sentences were carried out by lethal injection, nitrogen gas, and – for the first time in the United States in 15 years – a firing squad.
Emmjolee Mendoza Waters, CMN Director of the Death Penalty Abolition Program, said she thinks it's important to understand who is being executed.
Who did we execute? Many had mental illness, intellectual disabilities or life-long trauma. Some were veterans with PTSD, brain injuries or addictions who never received the care they needed. And others were caught in racial profiling or other discriminatory practices. And some had strong claims of innocence that were never fully investigated.
She added that 10 veterans who served their country were executed in 2025.
It is also notable that President Donald Trump lifted the moratorium on federal executions that had been put in place under the Biden administration.
Catholics and the death penalty
Yet, the year brought some good news as well. Gallup shows that public support for the death penalty is the lowest it has been in decades at 52%. The number of new death sentences is also at a low, with 23 people being sentenced last year. This is the fifth year in a row new sentences have been under 30.
Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville commented that what stood out to him the most about this past year is the significant increase in executions, showing how far we still need to go in this pro-life effort.
Speaking to the 55% of Catholics who, according to a recent Gallup poll, support the death penalty, the Archbishop urged that they “stay in the struggle” and continue to learn why the Church teaches what she does on this issue. He also encouraged them to parse sources to find reputable ones and to remember that the death penalty is a pro-life issue.
In A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death, the US bishops' conference writes,
Each of us is called to respect the life and dignity of every human being. Even when people deny the dignity of others, we must still recognize that their dignity is a gift from God and is not something that is earned or lost through their behavior. Respect for life applies to all, even the perpetrators of terrible acts. Punishment should be consistent with the demands of justice and with respect for human life and dignity.
Moving forward
Ultimately, at the beginning of this new year, CMN continues its effort to remind everyone that the work to uphold human dignity truly matters. Liberato shared that on the day before Walls’ execution, she had the chance to visit with him one last time. They weren’t sure whether he might be granted clemency at the last minute.
She prayed with him, she said, “for God’s will to be done -- whether he was going to go home to heaven or continue to evangelize here. ‘I’ll either see you tomorrow (Liberato witnessed his execution) or I’ll see you on the other side.' I know that he knew he wasn’t alone and that he knew where he was going.”
CMN not only educates people about the death penalty, they also invite Catholics to take concrete action. On their website, they provide information on upcoming executions and provide accessible online forms to petition governors to stop pending executions.
