Sister Helen Prejean's Opinion On The Death Penalty

All around the globe, people have always had a different opinion on the topic of the Death Penalty or as it is better known, capital punishment. The controversy over this topic will probably continue to happen until the end of capital punishment or the end of time. One woman to have an opinion on this controversial topic is Sister Helen Prejean. Prejean was born into a Catholic family, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on April 21, 1939(Sister Helen Prejean). With both of her parents, Gusta Mae Prejean and Louis Prejean, being very faithful members of the Catholic church she knew that her religion was going to be a major part of her life(Sister Helen Prejean) Being very strong faith based, very educated, and very influenced are just some of the
At the young age of eighteen, Prejean felt that she was receiving a call from God to live a religious life. This lead her to become a part of the Sisters of Saint Joseph Medaille(Architects of Peace). Over the next few years of Prejean's life she took the time to expand her knowledge on different things. Prejean, in 1962, earned a bachelor's degree in English and Education from the college of St. Mary Dominican, in New Orleans; in 1973 she earned a master's degree in Religious Education in Ottawa, Canada at the University of St. Paul’s(Ministry Against The Death Penalty). With having both of these degrees Prejean was a very intelligent woman when it came to knowing anything about teaching religion or English. While Prejean lived in the deep south, segregation and racism were running rampant. Prejean never really experienced the feeling of being segregated because she was a white female. A black woman being forcefully kicked off the bus by a male bus driver was the first encounter with racial tension that Prejean had ever witnessed(Sister Helen Prejean) As a child Prejean didn't experience racism too often but this would change in her older years as she began to try and make a difference with helping the
Prejean’s religion is what really pushed her to devote her life to the needy. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille, in 1980, made a devotion to helping those less fortunate;that same year Prejean was inspired by a speech she hear by Sister Marie Augusta Neal concerning how the poor had the same right and chance as everyone else in this life(Sister Helen Prejean). Sister Helen Prejean had first hand experiences of the struggling poor during the time she moved to the St. Thomas Housing Project in New Orleans, which was an unstable place to live(Sister Helen Prejean). Working with the less fortunate is not something Prejean was forced to do. With hearing the speech by Sister Maria, Prejean was just giving them the chance at life that the poor