|
| Susan M. Recinella, Clinical Psychologist for mentally ill adults, and
Catholic Lay Minister to Families of the Executed |
|
Excerpts from The Florida Catholic
June 17, 2009
By: Dale S. Recinella
The following is a link to a June 17, 2009 internet article which includes brief interviews of Dale and Dr. Susan Recinella.
Internet Article
This article form The Florida Catholic was cited in CNS blog (Catholic News Service):
Catholics and the death penalty
Posted on June 22, 2009 by Julie Asher
|
The Florida Catholic has created an interesting presentation on the death penalty that is worth looking at.
It’s a 12-part feature, headlined “The death penalty: Voices unite for louder opposition,” outlining church
teaching on the death penalty and opinion poll results and includes the witness of Catholics and non-Catholics
speaking out against the death penalty.
|
The entire article is well worth looking at. Here are the portions involving Dale and Dr. Susan Recinella:
The Pastoral Minister
Since August 1998, Dale Recinella, of St. Mary Parish in Macclenny, FL has served as the Catholic
lay chaplain for Florida’s death row and solitary confinement. “I know everybody on death row and
I go to every cell. I take each man where I find him and look for the opening to help him to move
closer and deeper into the reality of God’s love.”
Recinella has been on deathwatch a dozen times and witnessed five executions. “It’s a powerless
feeling to watch someone whom you have experienced as a human being, whom regardless of what they
may have done, you have seen the good in them and then you sit in front of that window and watch
their life extinguished by other people. It’s hard to describe the depth of powerlessness,” he shared.
When asked how he is able to bear the experience, Recinella replied, “Again and again I go to Mary
watching her son die on the cross. That’s where I go to ask God to take that pain. The only way to
stand at the edge of the abyss of evil and not lose our balance is to remember to look into the
abyss of God’s love—it is always deeper.”
The Family Counselor
Susan Recinella is a clinical psychologist at North East Florida State Hospital in Macclenny,
FL and has joined her husband, Florida death row lay chaplain Dale Recinella, in prison ministry,
making herself available to the families of the men being executed.
Recinella described her first encounter: “The family was a very strong Catholic family and we
bonded. You can’t just say goodbye after the trauma, so they came to our house as if after a
funeral. I was sitting at the table and realized I had seen this pain before—families whose
child had been murdered. They had seen their son in the morning and he was healthy and he was
intentionally killed. We always knew that in a murder, and now here was this innocent family.
They are like me. They never would have guessed that a family member…” she left the sentence
incomplete. “Their faith has been awe–inspiring.”
First published: The Florida Catholic OnLine,June 17, 2009
Laura Dodson and Denise O’Toole Kelly
© 2009 The Florida Catholic
Used with permission. All rights reserved.
No further reproduction or republication without prior written permission.
www.iwasinprison.org
|
|
I Was In Prison
News & Updates
This ezine is targeted for people involved in prison ministry or in stopping the death penalty, we think you will find helpful information for people who are undecided about capital punishment, for those who have never experienced the inside of a jail or prison, and for those who feel called to participate through prayer and adoration.
Your name and information will never be used or shared with anyone. We promise!
Dale S. Recinella, Catholic Lay Chaplain, Florida Death Row and Solitary Confinement
Susan M. Recinella, Clinical Psychologist for mentally ill adults, and
Catholic Lay Minister to Families of the Executed |
|
If you Like this Weekly Ezine - You will love Dale's Book!
Sr. Patricia Proctor |
|---|
Paperback: 433 pages
Excellent book on the topic!,
June 13, 2005
Nathan Eanes
(Review from Amazon.com)
The Biblical Truth about America's Death Penalty is a must-read. It deals with Biblical standards of Capital Punishment and then compares them to the system used in America today. It is the best-researched, most faithful to scripture, and most evenhanded analysis I have ever read concerning the Death Penalty. Whatever your persuasion on the issue, this book will teach you a great deal. Recinella is a trained lawyer and committed Christian who now volunteers part-time on Florida's death row. He thus understands law, the Bible, and the system of execution in America. I challenge anyone who supports the Death Penalty to read this book.
This ezine edited by Sister Patricia Proctor, OSC - Poor Clare Sister
to support the IWasInPrison Outreach
|
|
