Story in the Public SquareEp. 411 | Originally Aired: September 24, 2018
Since 1976, nearly 1500 Americans have been executed in the name of justice. Sister Helen Prejean, though, cautions about the human cost of the death penalty and the innocent victims wrongfully put to death.
Sister Helen Prejean was born on April 21, 1939, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille in 1957 (now know as the Congregation of St. Joseph) and received a B.A. in English and Education from St. Mary’s Dominican College, New Orleans in 1962. In 1973, she earned an M.A. in Religious Education from St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, Canada. She has been the Religious Education Director at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in New Orleans, the Formation Director for her religious community, and has taught junior and senior high school students.
