with Pat Sonnier, a man sentenced to die by electric chair for the murder of two teen-

agers, which he did not commit. Dead Man Walking, gives a moving account of her

spiritual journey as she became knowledgeable about our system of capital punishment

through her involvement in the lives and deaths of several convicted murderers, their

families, the families of their victims and the people whose job it is to carry out executions.

Sister Helen brings a profound compassion to all the people she meets, reflecting on her

experiences from an engaged Christian perspective. She helps the two death row inmates

by loving them even though society despises them. The soul of a man is reached and

articulated through the assumption of those who love without judgment. Sister Helen's

novel is a classic example of the practice of attentive love, and of its consequences.

Throughout the novel, Sister Helen quotes Albert Camus extensively on resistance

to the death penalty. The soul comes into articulation not through the discipline of

punishment, but through the practice of love, a process that the death penalty may initia

time of death, a moment of shamed recognition occurs: "His eyes happen to look into

see, and fascinating. And visible. It was truthful. It was cruel. It was unusual. And it was

love back to Sister Helen and defined her soul.

Some topics in this essay:
Sister Helen, Robert Willie, Patrick Sonnier, Albert Camus, Patrick Robert, Dead Walking, sister helen, Sister Helen's, Department Corrections, Pat Sonnier, patrick sonnier, death row, robert willie, Helen Prejean, death row inmate, dead walking, death penalty, love sister, row inmate, helen brings, citizens country, love sister helen, sister helen brings, novel sister helen, judgment sister helen's,