Citing pope, activists call for end to death penalty

Death-penalty foes will gather at a Germantown church tomorrow for a prayer vigil, during which they will pray for an end to capital punishment.

The vigil will be at noon at St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church, 400 E. Price St. It is free and open to the public. Harold Wilson, a Philadelphia man exonerated in 2005 in a 1988 triple murder, will speak at the vigil about holding onto hope while living on death row.

Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penality, Witness to Innocence, various clergy and other activists organized the event to coincide with tomorrow's scheduled execution in Oklahoma of Richard Glossip, who was convicted in the 1997 murder of an Oklahoma City motel owner. Sister Helen Prejean, a noted anti-death-penalty crusader, has championed his case as a wrongful conviction.