Sr. Helen Prejean, C.S.J.

On Monday evening in front of an overflowing audience at the Center for Social Concerns, Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., recounted her experience of being awakened to fight for justice. She spoke of her work as a spiritual advisor to six men on Death Row and how walking with them to their executions has shaped her life’s work as a world-renown advocate against the death penalty.

Sr. Helen, using her wit, southern charm, and wisdom defined Justice as “Just Us,” and encouraged the audience, especially students, to find their passion for justice, and act upon it.

View video of Sister Helen Prejean’s lecture.

Resources to get involved:

The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program increases opportunities for men and women, inside and outside of prison, to have transformative learning experiences that emphasize collaboration and dialogue, inviting participants to take leadership in addressing crime, justice, and other issues of social concern.

Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN) proclaims the Church's unconditional pro-life teaching and its application to capital punishment and restorative justice. CMN works in close collaboration with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to prepare Catholics for informed involvement in campaigns to repeal state death penalty laws and expand or inaugurate restorative justice programs.

Choose Life: Talking about life, death, and social justice and ways to become involved. Sister Helen Prejean is a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph and has been instrumental in sparking national dialogue on the death penalty and helping to shape the Catholic Church’s newly vigorous opposition to state executions.

WOMEN & SPIRIT: Catholic Sisters in America is a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in association with Cincinnati Museum Center. It reveals the mystery behind a small group of innovative American women who helped shape the nation’s social and cultural landscape.

The Indiana Information Center on the Abolition of Capital Punishment (IICACP) exists to expose the injustice associated with the application of the death penalty in Indiana. IICACP is open to anyone who is opposed to the death penalty.

The Juvenile Justice Center in South Bend, Indiana is always in need of volunteers to mentor a child, assist in tutoring detainees in detention, or to provide the appropriate religious services to detainees while in detention. In addition, a limited number of practicum experiences for students is also provided in the Mental Health, Day Reporting and Probation Departments.