St. Augustine, Fla. – The third annual Cities for Life, a worldwide initiative to abolish the death penalty is Thursday, Nov. 30, at The Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche at Mission Nombre de Dios, 101 San Marco Ave., St. Augustine. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a call for all churches in North Florida to ring their bells at 7:30 p.m. in solidarity to end the death penalty.

The Rome-based Sant’Egidio Community launched the first international “Cities for Life, Cities against the Death Penalty” in 2002. Since then more and more cities around the world have joined the cause to end capital punishment. The Diocese of St. Augustine has hosted Cities for Life for the last two years.

This year, the event will occur in two areas of the diocese: St. Augustine and Gainesville. The speakers for the St. Augustine Cities for Life are:

• Darlene Farah – The mother of a murder victim, Shelby. She spoke at Cities for Life last year, but there have been significant and inspiring developments in the state’s case against James Rhodes who admitted to killing Shelby in 2013.
• Professor Chris Moser – The Assistant Director of the Pre-Law Program at Flagler College. She has taught at Florida Coastal Law School and created and led the Wrongful Convictions Clinic. She has extensive experience working with death row inmates.
• Nancy O’Byrne – The Board Chairwoman for Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP). She has also served for 13 years as the chair of the Justice and Peace Commission for the Diocese of St. Augustine.

For more information, call Deacon Lowell “Corky” Hecht, director of Prison Ministry for the Diocese of St. Augustine, at (727) 348-8794 or email checht@dosafl.com.