TOLEDO—Central Catholic High School held a respect life prayer service Jan. 20 that featured guest speaker Father Neil Kookoothe, the Roman Catholic priest, former attorney and critical care nurse who was instrumental in the case of death row inmate Joe D’Ambrosio.

Mr. D’Ambrosio is being released from death row after Fr. Kookoothe helped prove his innocence.

Mr. D’Ambrosio was convicted in 1989 and sentenced to death for the aggravated murder of Tony Klann in Cleveland. However, a federal judge ruled in 2006 that prosecutors withheld from D’Ambrosio and his lawyers 10 pieces of key evidence that might have exonerated him of the murder.

Fr. Kookoothe spoke to Central Catholic students about his personal experience as a spiritual advisor to people on death row. He also talked about the D’Ambrosio case and his experiences witnessing executions.

Fr. Kookoothe was accompanied by Adrian Griffin, the Northern Ohio Organizer of Ohioans to Stop Execution (OTSE), who spoke briefly to students about key death penalty issues, including innocence, cost, impact on victims’ family members and race/geographic disparities.

The prayer service concluded with a pilgrims’ blessing for the 37 Central Catholic students and teachers who departed for Washington, D.C., that afternoon to attend the annual March for Life. While in Washington, the CCHS contingent met with Congressman Bob Latta at the Capitol and toured the Basilica and Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Central Catholic hosts an annual Respect Life prayer service to mark the anniversary of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision regarding abortion. The service reinforces Catholic support of life from conception to natural death and covers all elements of treating human life with reverence and dignity.