Radical forgiveness
Their loved ones were murdered. Suddenly. Horrifically. Needlessly. Yet none of them wanted the killers to die too.
Inspired by their Christian faith, they fought capital punishment in Illinois, and on March 9, they saw that goal fulfilled and the death penalty abolished.
Christians view Easter's triumph of life over death as a particularly poignant reminder of what Christ's resurrection means for humanity, the scope of God's love and our own capacity for forgiveness.
But the journey has not been the same for everyone. One woman has finally summoned the strength to utter the name of the man who killed her sister 21 years ago and pray for him on Easter for the first time. Another woman, remembering the childhood lessons of Easter, immediately forgave her father's killers, but she can't forgive God six years after the murder.
--Manya A. Brachear, Tribune reporter
Twitter @TribSeeker
April 23, 2011
'Safe in God's arms'
On Palm Sunday, April 8, 1990, Jeanne Bishop was standing in the aisle of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, holding a palm and a choir folder when the call came in that her sister Nancy, brother-in-law Richard and their unborn child had been slain by an armed intruder.
April 23, 2011
'So much doubt'
Hannah Yoo isn't sure her father went to heaven. She scorns God for that uncertainty — if there is a God. She's not even sure about that anymore.
April 23, 2011
'Coming back to life'
Gail Rice lost her brother Bruce VanderJagt to 10 shots in the head and torso with an assault rifle on Nov. 12, 1997, in Denver. But when Rice became a voice against the death penalty, she eventually lost a close bond with his wife and daughter.
April 23, 2011
'God's business'
The Rev. Roger Nelson lost his father, Ronald, when a crack addict shot him in the chest in the parking lot of Roseland Christian Ministries Center in Chicago after Sunday services. It was broad daylight on St. Patrick's Day 26 years ago.
Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune
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