Archbishop Coakley receives award for anti-death penalty advocacy

Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN) honored Archbishop Paul Coakley with an award for his public opposition to the death penalty during its Justice Reimagined Awards and Celebration at the apostolic nunciature in Washington, D.C.

Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, received CMN’s Archbishop Fiorenza Dignity and Life Award , named after civil rights advocate and death penalty abolitionist Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, at the Oct. 21 event.

Coakley, a longtime advocate against the death penalty including in his home state of Oklahoma, earlier this month condemned the Trump administration’s plan to livestream the military execution of the Fort Hood mass shooter, Nidal Hasan. “Our God is the God of life,” he said in an Oct. 9 statement . “In no way can Hasan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.”

“It goes without saying that Iʼm very humbled and honored by this this award,” Coakley said during his acceptance speech. “Archbishop Fiorenza was a true champion whom I knew as the president of the bishops’ conference when I was a brand-new bishop, and I had always…