For the last few months Rafael Acosta Jr. has been traveling all over the state of Texas, displaying a painting he has done in order to promote discussion about the abolishment of the death penalty.
On June 10 Acosta paid a visit to the pastoral center in the Diocese of Beaumont. Bishop Curtis Guillory, SVD, introduced the artist before leading a prayer service for an end to the death penalty.
“We are the leading state as far as executions. I think when something like this becomes so commonplace that it becomes normal then people stop noticing. We need to remind people that this is not normal,” Bishop Guillory said.
Acosta said the painting was influenced a great deal by American history and the Bible.
“There is a lot of symbolism. I painted Jesus with a feather coming out from behind his head to symbolize the Native Americans, one of the most overlooked people in our country. And of course the washing of the hands by the politician calls back to images of Pontius Pilate,” Acosta said.
The trip is being sponsored by Catholics Against Capital Punishment. For more information visit its website at www.cacp.org.
