Sister Helen Prejean joined the DePaul University community to honor former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn 15 years after Quinn signed legislation abolishing the death penalty in the state.
Quinn signed the law ending capital punishment on March 9, 2011, about two months after it was passed by the state legislature and more than a decade after former Gov. George Ryan declared a moratorium on carrying out executions in Illinois.
The state became the 16th state to abolish the death penalty; since then, seven more have followed suit.
DePaul University President Robert Manuel introduced the event, “A Beacon of Light in Darkness,” calling on members of the DePaul community to continue the university’s mission to affirm the dignity of every person.
“This is an important day for reflection, for gratitude, for recommitment, and also to take all of the work we’ve done, and realize we can’t rest on our laurels,” Manuel said. “The decision to abolish the death penalty in Illinois was a landmark moment in our state’s history, one grounded in moral courage, public leadership, and the persistent work of people who believe deeply in sanctity of life and the possibility of justice rooted in mercy.”
Cardinal Cupich sent a message, read by Auxiliary Bishop Larry Sullivan, the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago. In the letter, he recalled that when he was bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, the state was debating capital punishment and abortion at the same time, and he saw the two issues as intertwined.
“Capital punishment confronts us with the unavoidable moral question: Is the right to life conditional or is it unconditional? … I argue that the assertion that every human life has an inherent and inalienable value will only be strengthened if we apply this principle to the morality of defending both convicted criminals and the lives of the unborn. The cause of defending human dignity is at the heart of so many issues we face today.”
That dignity is denied when the lives of people are treated as means to “larger and allegedly more important goals,” the letter said.
Pope Leo XIV sent a video message congratulating the former governor.
“The Catholic Church has consistently taught that each human life, from the moment of conception until natural death, is sacred and deserves to be protected,” the pope said. “Indeed, the right to life is the very foundation of every other human right. For this reason, only when a society safeguards the sanctity of human life will it flourish and prosper. In this regard, we affirm that the dignity of the person is not lost even after various serious crimes are committed.”
Quinn noted that it was not the first time Pope Leo had communicated with him about his action; after Pope Leo’s election, a Chicago Sun-Times records request found that then-Robert Prevost had emailed the governor’s office on the day Quinn signed the abolition bill in support of the decision.
Quinn said he never saw the email until a reporter showed it to him in June 2025. Since then, he’s had it printed out and framed.
He believes it is significant that Pope Leo was raised in Illinois, the land of Lincoln, who said “government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”
“Robert Prevost and all of us grew up hearing those words of Abraham Lincoln, about democracy, and the importance of democracy, the government and the people, to make changes that are needed in order to make our society better and more decent.” Quinn said.
Prejean, a well-known advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, said there is reason for hope, despite the darkness.
It took the Catholic Church 1,500 years to determine the death penalty to be “inadmissible” in all circumstances, she said, noting that the change was made by Pope Francis in 2018, three years after he urged the U.S. Congress to abolish the death penalty, and after years of popes speaking out against it.
Now, she said, juries are a more reluctant to sentence people to death, and executions are rare or nonexistent in most states, even those that have not formally abolished death penalties. Most executions now, she said, take place in a handful of states, mostly located in the deep South.
“I want to point to the light, because we see change happening in the country,” Prejean said. “Illinois is one example. When Gov. Pat Quinn gets up to share with you what he faced as a civic, as a political leader, the pressure he was up against not to sign that abolition bill, we see what we’re up against, but that people do stand out. People witness, they study, they learn, they change, and we change our society.”
In a joint interview with Prejean before the event, Quinn said the pressure was intense, from both sides. He had not expected the legislature to take up the bill in its post-general election veto session at the end of 2010. When he brought it up to then-Speaker of the House Mike Madigan, he said, Madigan just looked at him for a full minute before asking Quinn what he wanted him to do.
“I told him to call the bill and let the members vote their consciences,” Quinn said. “And he did. And he voted yes.”
Once the bill passed, prosecutors and others tried to persuade Quinn not to sign it, he said. That included the Illinois attorney general and Mike Madigan’s daughter, Lisa Madigan.
Prejean was among those who tried to persuade him to sign the bill, along with Bishop Desmond Tutu, who also conveyed the wishes former South African President Nelson Mandela.
In the statement released the day he signed the law, Quinn said he was most convinced by the 20 former Death Row inmates who were exonerated after being convicted.
“Since our experience has shown that there is no way to design a perfect death penalty system, free from the numerous flaws that can lead to wrongful convictions or discriminatory treatment, I have concluded that the proper course of action is to abolish it,” he said in the statement. “With our broken system, we cannot ensure justice is achieved in every case.”
Fifteen years later, he said that he spent the morning of the day he signed the bill reading the Bible and reading Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s book, “The Gift of Peace.”
He knew the decision would be used against him politically, he said, but he believes his decision to raise the Illinois state income tax probably had more to do with his loss of the governor’s seat in 2012.