After the failed execution of Christa Pike last week, the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church representing Tennessee dioceses signed a letter to Gov. Bill Lee requesting that the state not attempt to execute her again.
Pike was one of three people convicted in the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, and the only one sentenced to death. She survived two fatal doses of pentobarbital Sept. 30 and was transported to a hospital for treatment. Still hospitalized, she regained consciousness this week.
The Right Rev. Brian Cole, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee, said the letter grew from a goal among the bishops to provide a common Christian witness, amplifying the denominations’ shared opposition to capital punishment.
“Our hope was that in a time when many people are paying attention to our state, they would see that churches, in this case Lutheran, Catholic and Episcopalian,” Cole said in a phone interview, “we can find ourselves in a common place together while the world is offering a different approach.”
The denominations have long stood against the death penalty and have at times individually called to halt executions.