THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 2, 1996 TAG: 9611020309
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LAURA LAFAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 44 lines
Bishop Walter Sullivan on Friday denounced Virginia Prisons Director Ron Angelone, saying Angelone has refused to let him celebrate mass and administer sacraments to three Catholic death-row inmates with imminent execution dates.
Among the condemned Catholics is Joseph Payne, scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday.
``I am outraged that actions by prison authorities would deny those on death row soon to be executed even spiritual comfort and forgiveness,'' Sullivan wrote in a letter he faxed to Angelone Friday.
``Is it not enough that the state is going to put these men to death? Must we add cruelty by refusing spiritual support?''
Virginia plans to execute 10 prisoners between Nov. 7 and Dec. 18. When the dates were announced, Sullivan said, he rearranged his schedule to meet with those who are Catholic.
The Mecklenburg Correctional Center, where death row is housed, has been locked down since Monday, said Department of Corrections spokesman David Botkins.
That means all inmates are confined to their cells until further notice and none can have visitors. Sullivan's visit, originally scheduled for Oct. 29, was rescheduled to Nov. 18, Botkins said.
``But rather than the bishop calling the director if he had complaints or problems with the date change, he decided to overreact to the press,'' said Botkins. ``The letter that the bishop wrote is more of a protest of the death penalty than any sort of genuine problems he has with the date change.''
Payne, Botkins said, was transferred Friday morning to the death house at Greensville Correctional Center in Emporia, where he can hear mass and receive sacraments whenever he wants.
``The bottom line is, no death row inmates are being denied religious services,'' said Botkins. ``The bishop references his schedule in the letter. Well, what about our schedule? We've got 367 inmates at Mecklenburg, 55 of them on death row, and we've got a schedule to keep, too.''
The dispute marks the second pre-execution religious conflict for Angelone, who last year refused to allow condemned inmate Dana Ray Edmonds to be baptized before his death. Edmonds, Angelone insisted, had already been baptized once. And once was enough.
KEYWORDS: DEATH ROW INMATES RELIGIOUS SERVICES VIRGINIA by CNB