A young Sr. Helen Prejean loved retreats and pious devotions. Her life was all about praying and being kind. Then she woke up. "I had everything to learn" she says.

Gloria speaks with Sr. Helen–a world renowned anti-death penalty activist–about her experience growing up in the south as a white Catholic. Sr. Helen describes how she woke up to systemic racism and explains its impact on the criminal justice system, including the decision of prosecutors to seek the death penalty. The problem, according to Sr. Helen, is that the individuals with the power to make life and death decisions often don't know personally the suffering of the poor and the marginalized, including guilty men and women. Being steeped in the suffering of others, she says, is the key to waking up.

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Links:

Sr. Helen Prejean's spiritual autobiography, "River of Fire"

Pope Francis revises Catechism, teaches that death penalty is ‘inadmissible’

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