MICHIGAN CITY – Benjamin Ritchie, a death row inmate who killed Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution. His lawyers filed a petition arguing Ritchie’s death by lethal injection scheduled for May 20 needs to wait until there’s time to consider whether brain damage from partial fetal alcohol syndrome caused his criminal behavior.
If the petition is not granted and the execution moves forward, the Diocese of Gary will hold a prayer vigil on May 19 at 8 p.m. outside the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.
“In the cases like these, by our prayers, we lift our hearts, minds and souls to God and in a special way ask that God’s will be done, interceding for the life of the person facing execution, and in the hope that the hearts of those who will determine his fate will be moved to decide in favor of clemency/mercy rather than death,” said Father Richard Holy, director of the Office of Pro-life Activities.
Father Holy shared that sometimes visible “demonstrations” are necessary so that attention can be brought to the situation. The hope is that the consciences of those who see capital punishment/the death penalty as an acceptable and necessary form of justice can be awakened and transformed in favor of mercy and of life.
Roseanne Kouris, marriage and family life coordinator for the diocese, agreed, stating that prayer, especially prayer in a group, is very important and powerful.
“Our voices will ask for mercy for the person facing the death penalty that night as well as for an end to it,” she said. “This is a spiritual work of mercy, and our physical presence is a witness to the sacredness of all life.”
The last execution in Indiana was on Dec. 18, 2024, when Joseph Corcoran was executed for a quadruple murder. That marked the state's first execution in 15 years.
Members of the diocese, including Kouris, gathered near the local prison at that time to offer prayers. Before Kouris attended the vigil in December, she was against the death penalty, but admits she did not have particularly strong convictions. However, praying for an actual person, right outside the walls of the prison, just hours before his execution changed that.
“I now feel very strongly that the death penalty is not what God wants,” she said.
Life is God’s to give and God’s to take, reminded Father Holy. Only in very rare situations and circumstances, he shared, may human beings take actions that result in the loss of life: self-defense in the case of imminent threat to life; and in a just war the often unavoidable taking of life by military combatants.
Father Holy believes history has proven that capital punishment/the death penalty is not an effective deterrent to capital crimes.
“Neither will it bring back the victim of the evil act committed. It only brings a deceptive sense of ‘satisfaction,’” he said. “Jesus taught us 2,000 years ago to move beyond ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ form of justice.”
He added that in society, the public is protected by possible recidivism from those who have committed capital crimes by sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“We do not need to take a life to achieve justice and to protect our society, we’re only choosing to do so,” said Father Holy. “We need to choose otherwise.”
The vigil will offer prayers that clemency would be granted and for the state of Indiana to move away from ending capital punishment/the death penalty. Diocesan faithful who can not attend can support a culture of life, Father Holy said, with prayer and through an examination of their individual consciences in regard to capital punishment/the death penalty.
“We should strive to make Indiana a state that values life, all life, even the lives of those who have committed evil acts,” he said. “As Catholics we should look at the example of St. Paul. As Saul, he was responsible for the murder of Christians – but his hardened heart was converted. He repented and became the greatest evangelist the Church has ever seen, bringing others to Christ. So no life is without value – and conversion is always possible.”
Caption: Bishop Robert J. McClory (right) and Father Rick Holy, director of pro-life activities for the Diocese of Gary, lead a group in the Rosary followed by a prayer vigil outside Indiana State Prison, Michigan City prior to the execution of Joseph Corcoran, 49, on Dec. 17, 2024. (Deacon Bob Wellinski photo)
