News Post

Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking and advocate against the death penalty, spoke to the junior class on Friday, January 30; she last spoke to the Visitation community in November of 1996, and the school was honored to have her speak once more with a new generation of students.

"I was so honored I had the opportunity to introduce someone so impactful in the world of social justice, someone so inspiring who has made a difference in the world," said Molly S. '27. "Being able to hear directly from Sr. Helen herself was a beautiful reminder of the change we are all capable of making."

Sr. Helen stated at the beginning of her talk, "When we enter into this journey ... we have real human feelings about this." Sr. Helen shared her story of leaning into the gospel of encounter, writing men who were on death row, and becoming their spiritual advisor. 

"I can see how people are getting caught in the system. That's how social justice works - you get involved," she said of the experience. "I just thought I would be writing letters. I didn't know how sneaky Jesus was."

The Gospel of Matthew stuck with her as her first pen pal asked for a visit: I was in prison, and you came to visit me (Matthew 25: 36). "Those words caught on fire for me," Sr. Helen said, and led to her first visit. As she learned more about the man she was writing, and the crime he had committed, she was reminded that "forgiveness and mercy" are the heart of Jesus' teachings.

Of the death penalty these men faced for their crimes, she said, "Just because it is a law doesn't mean it's right ...  I offer you this book [Dead Man Walking] and this journey. And then for you to ask yourself, is this one of the issues of our day?"

She added, "You get to dig into all this as a young person ... Simply by being a human person, you have an inalienable right to life."

Students study the death penalty as part of the junior year theology curriculum focused on Catholic Social Teaching, and hear about Sr. Helen's story. 

"It can be easier to support human dignity and life when we deem the person innocent or benign and much more challenging to believe that those who have committed great harm also have dignity and deserve to be treated as such," said theology teacher Toni Buranen. "Sr. Helen put an exclamation point on the things we have discussed in class. She reminded us in her talk that every person is more than their worst act. In her amazing, down-to-earth manner, she reminded us of our own humanity and the humanity of the death row inmate. And afterwards, again and again, the students told me how inspired they were by her and how they felt strongly that what they heard echoed so much of our curriculum this year."

Sr. Helen shared that her own Catholic education led her to this calling for social justice work: "They taught us to use our minds, and they lit a spark of faith inside us."

She told students that they were "lucky to attend a school like Visitation," and encouraged them to consider the gospel of encounter as they conduct service to others, stepping outside their comfort zones to meet people and learn their stories. "You'll feel that grace and hope flow through you, and then God will take you to the next steps," she said.

"My main goal in having our students participate in service is that they get to engage and encounter others the way that Mary did in the story of the Visitation. Sr. Helen's work was all about bringing love and compassion to others," said Director of Christian Service Anasofia Gutierrez. "I could not pick a better role model for our students to embody this 'gospel of encounter,' this spirit of The Visitation that I hope our students carry with them throughout their lives."

"As someone who has taught a consistent ethic of life through the lens of the death penalty and shown Dead Man Walking to generations of students for the past thirty years, Sr. Helen is one of my personal heroes," said Buranen, who described hearing from Sr. Helen as a "career high." "I am confident that through her loving witness, our students were drawn that much more into Christ's compassion for even those deemed irredeemable," she said. 

Sr. Helen ended with these words to students: "You keep being a little light."

Mary B. '27 had been a part of the introduction of Sr. Helen with a prayer. Looking back, having now heard from Sr. Helen, Mary shared her new prayer: 

I come to You just as I am,

with questions I don’t know how to resolve

and a heart that feels heavier after listening instead of lighter.

After speaking with Sister Helen Prejean,

I am reminded how easy it is to look away,

and how costly it is to truly see.

She spoke of lives the world has written off,

of mercy that refuses to abandon the sinner.

Let that truth unsettle me in the way You unsettled hearts in the Gospel. 

When silence feels safer, give me the courage to speak.

And Lord, when I don’t know what to do next,

remind me that loving faithfully is already holy work.

Amen.