BREAKING Following Christa Pike's Survival Catholic Network says “The Church teaches that the death penalty is ‘inadmissible’ because every human life is sacred"

Christa Pike Survives Attempted Execution

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2026  – After the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the stay of execution for Christa Pike, the state of Tennessee continued with attempting to execute her last night. But after two doses of lethal pentobarbital, Ms. Pike was still alive and taken by ambulance to the hospital. 
This is the first time anyone has ever survived receiving two doses of lethal injection, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. People have survived executions that have been botched due to inability to access a vein to administer the drugs, among them Tony Carruthers, whom Tennessee attempted to execute just this May. 
“We are stunned and bewildered by this unprecedented news,” said Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network. “We pray for Ms. Pike’s current condition, and we pray for the victim Colleen Slemmer’s family as this situation must surely be retraumatizing.” 
“There is nothing normal about taking a life, and last night’s horrifying events reminds us of that,” Valliancourt Murphy continued. “For Tennessee to have two botched executions in a matter of months is beyond alarming. It is the epitome of ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ under the Eighth Amendment.”
After last night’s botched attempt, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has suspended executions for the rest of the year pending an investigation. 
“We pray this is the needed wake up call for Gov. Lee – in fact, for everyone – to recognize the barbarism of capital punishment,” said Vaillancourt Murphy. “The Church teaches that the death penalty is ‘inadmissible’ because every human life is sacred, no matter the harm one has caused or suffered, and because we have more effective ways to protect society than to take another life.”
“Last night’s events were particularly jarring, and another reason we should never accept state-sanctioned killing. We don’t make our communities any safer or deter any violence by perpetuating that cycle with executions. 
“It is sobering to know that were Ms. Pike sentenced today, she would not receive the death penalty because of how young she was when she murdered Ms. Slemmer. Ms. Pike’s case had already attracted particular attention for being the first woman to face execution in Tennessee for 200 years, for the almost three decades she has spent in solitary confinement and today remains alive, surviving a botched execution at 50 years old,” said Vaillancourt Murphy.  
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Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Catholic Mobilizing Network is a national organization that mobilizes Catholics and people of goodwill to end the death penalty, advance justice solutions in alignment with Catholic values and promote healing through restorative justice approaches and practices. For more information and to join the movement, visit catholicsmobilizing.org.

Source: https://catholicsmobilizing.org/statement-on-botched-execution-of-christa-pike/