Sister Helen Prejean talks about Gospel call to walk alongside death row inmates

Answering the Gospel call led Sister Helen Prejean CSJ to accompany six prisoners to their executions and become a leading advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.

On Aug. 6, Sister Helen shared her story with students at St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge to show that catching the “fire” of the faith may call them to serve in ways they never anticipated and requires boldness and courage. But in return, they will be fulfilled in knowing they are discovering their God-given gifts and purposes for their lives.

“You have great potential,” said Sister Helen, encouraging the attendees to discern how God moves through their lives.

She referred to her own faith journey story, which began at SJA.

“We were a family, we loved each other. We had a lot of fun,” said Sister Helen, who met life-long friends while studying there.

Sister Helen learned the beginning steps of Gospel service through charitable works, such as bringing thanksgiving baskets to the poor, etc. She was 18 years-old when she joined the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1957.



After joining the congregation, Sister Helen wryly said her vocation was to “be a good nun and obey her superiors.”

That changed with the reforms of Vatican II, which emphasized that people should follow the spirit within them, said Sister Helen. Her desire to become involved in social justice was sparked.

She moved into the St. Thomas housing project in New Orleans and served at a place called Hope House.

“For the first time in my life, the African American community became my teacher,” said Sister Helen.

She learned what it meant for people to drop out of public schools and not be able to read a third-grade level book and adults seeking help at an adult education center. She learned what it meant for parents and their sick children to sit in hard plastic chairs for hours before receiving medical care. She learned about racism and injustices done to minorities, the poor and the marginalized.

Sister Helen’s life took a dramatic change when she accepted a friend’s invitation to be a pen pal for Elmo Patrick Sonnier, a death row inmate at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Sonnier and his brother, Eddie, were convicted in the death of a teenage couple parked in a lover’s lane in a remote area of St. Martin Civil Parish. The girl was raped before both victims were shot.

After several correspondences, Sister Helen and Sonnier met. He told her about living in poverty as a child as well as his memories of his brother and father.

Sister Helen described her walk alongside Sonnier as his spiritual advisor until the time of his execution in an electric chair on April 5, 1984 in the book “Dead Man Walking.” The book was made into a major motion picture and is set to be the premier at the Metropolitan Opera on Sept. 26.

The book chronicles the legal battle in Sonnier's case, in which Governor Edwin Edwards, the Fifth Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court turned down petitions for a stay of execution. 

Sister Helen encouraged Sonnier to die with words of love rather than hate. Sonnier apologized to the father of the boy victim, Lloyd LeBlanc, who nodded his head to signal his forgiveness. Sonnier's last words were to Sister Helen: “I love you,” to which Sister Helen replied, “I love you too.”

Sister Helen also wrote about her journey with LeBlanc, whom she called “the hero in this story." The two sometimes met at a chapel and prayed the rosary together. He told her about his struggle to forgive Sonnier. Yet he said even as he knelt beside his son’s body when sheriff’s deputies asked him to identify his body he knew that he had to forgive his killers.

Sister Helen said LeBlanc told her, “'They killed our boy, but I'm not going to let them kill me. I'm going to do what Jesus said, (in the Our Father Prayer, ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us).’ ”


He eventually contacted Sonnier’s mother, who had been ostracized by her neighbors, and told her, “I’m here for you,” noted Sister Helen, who is the founder of Survive, a victims' advocacy group in New Orleans.

The sister's experiences of accompanying death row inmates, the criminal justice system and her own spiritual journey have prompted Sister Helen to write two more books: “The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account” and “River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey.”

She urged the students to discover their purposes in life by asking Jesus to direct them to what he wants them to do.

“Jesus strikes in our hearts, and we get a call, an alarm, where there’s a lot of fire … “The Holy Spirit works in that energy and love," said Sister Helen.
 
Photos by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic Commentator