Sister Helen Préjean was a little-known Roman Catholic nun from Louisiana when in 1993, her first book, Dead Man Walking, challenged the way we lok at the death penalty in America.  It became a New York Times bestseller and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.  The film version, by Tim Robbins, was nominated for 4 Academy Awards, with Susan Sarandon winning as "Best Actress" in her portrayal of Sister Helen.  More than 1.3 billion people have seen the movie.

In her second book, The Death of Innocents:  An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions (2004), Sister Helen sought to broaden the discourse.  Her intention is to help people "get in touch with the deep ambivalence within themselves, and to go to a deeper level of reflection."  She implores readers to reflect on what she iews is the core moral issue of the death penalty debate:  Honorable people disagree about the jusice of ecexuting the guilty, but can anyone argue about the injustice of executing the innocent?

Sister Helen travels extensively, seeking to ignite public discourse on the death penalty.  She has appeared on ABC's World News Tonight, 60 Minutes, Oprah, NPR, and an NBC special series on capital punishment.  Born on April 21, 1039, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille in 1957 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.

This event is free and open to the public. Childcare is available in the church nursery. For additional information about this event or about the McMichael Lecture Series, visit the church’s website, www.stpaulsfay.org or call (479) 442-7373.

St. Paul’s is located at 224 N. East Avenue, at Dickson Street, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.