Future Pope Leo Thanked a Democratic Governor for Ending the Death Penalty
Long before Rome, Leo praised Illinois Governor Pat Quinn for repealing capital punishment in Illinois.
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This project exists to tell the stories that matter — like when, in 2011, Robert Prevost (now Pope Leo) wrote to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn to thank him for abolishing the death penalty.
That moment anticipated the Church’s evolving teaching on the dignity of life. It was a glimpse of the pope he would become — and it still matters today.
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On March 9, 2011, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a law ending the state’s death penalty.
That same day, Chicago‐born priest Robert F. Prevost — years later elected Pope Leo XIV — submitted an online note to Quinn:
Dear Governor Quinn, THANK YOU for your courageous decision in signing into law the elimination of the death penalty,” the letter read. “I know it was a difficult decision, but I applaud your vision…You have my full support!
Sincerely, Robert F. Prevost
Mindful of his digital clutter, Prevost declined to check the box to receive the governor’s digital newsletter.
Quinn, unaware of the note at the time, told reporters he planned to frame it.
The former governor said his decision was grounded in conscience and faith. He told interviewers that “much of his moral compass came from his Catholic education at Fenwick and guidance from priests.”
He also cited reading Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s book The Gift of Peace shortly before signing the repeal as helping to shape his resolve. The governor described his choice as a matter of life and death and said Scripture guided him toward sparing human life.
The episode fits a broader shift in Catholic teaching.
John Paul II had already moved the Church away from broad use of capital punishment — famously saying that “not even a murderer loses his personal dignity” and calling the death penalty “cruel and unnecessary.”
Pope Francis went further: in 2018, he formally revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church to declare the death penalty categorically “inadmissible” in all cases.
Leo’s 2011 thank-you note now seems in harmony with that trajectory, applauding a policy change that Catholics in Illinois hailed as advancing a “culture of life.”
The story also underscores Leo XIV’s ongoing civic engagement.
Public records show the new pope (still registered in his Illinois hometown) most recently cast an absentee ballot in the November 2024 U.S. presidential election.
As a church leader who has weighed in on political issues, his 2011 letter to Gov. Quinn resonates today: it highlights a Chicago cleric’s early support for justice‑of‑life issues, in line with the Church’s evolving moral vision.
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Thanks for letting us know about Pope Leo's support of ending the death penalty. This news provides comfort as the current administration aggressively pushes the death penalty.