UNIVERSITY TO HOST 'JOURNEY OF HOPE'

Forgiveness not vengeance will be the focus of the "Journey of Hope: from violence to healing," presentation to be held this weekend in Cape Girardeau.

The free sessions will address issues surrounding the death penalty in Missouri. The events are co-sponsored by Catholic Campus Ministry and Southeast Students for Social Justice. Friday evening sessions will begin at 7 p.m. in the program lounge at the University Center on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. Saturday morning events will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Old St. Vincent's Church in downtown Cape Girardeau, and will be a repeat of the earlier program.

The Rev. J. Friedel, director of Catholic Campus ministries at the university, said that most people still haven't done an about-face in their opinions about the death penalty but that they are thinking and talking about the issue.

The Supreme Court agreed this week to hear a case arguing that the mentally retarded be excluded from executions. The court will determine whether or not the Constitution's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment" precludes mentally retarded people from being executed. A 1989 ruling said it did not.

Missouri executed Tomas Ervin Wednesday at the Potosi Correctional Center in Potosi, Mo., for killing a 75-year-old woman and her son, 49. He was the second man to be executed this year and the 48th since 1989 when the death penalty was reinstated in Missouri.

But executions don't always end the anguish for victim's families. Two of the guest speakers at the seminar, Bill Pelke and George White, will speak about how their feelings regarding the death penalty have changed.

Bill Pelke, after supporting the death penalty for his grandmother's 15-year-old killer, has learned to forgive. He led a campaign to get the killer, Paula Cooper, off death row in Indiana. He said lessons his grandmother taught about forgiveness and her faith compelled him to change his mind.

WANT TO GO:

WHAT: Journey of Hope, a presentation open to the public

WHEN: Starts tonight, continues Saturday.

WHERE: 7 p.m. tonight at University Center program lounge.

COST: Free

INFORMATION: Contact the Catholic Campus Center at 335-3899