Deacon Ed Sheffer was Ordained a Roman Catholic Deacon for the Diocese of Tucson in June 2003. Bishop Gerald Kicanas officially assigned Deacon Ed to St.Thomas the Apostle Parish at that time. He serves as Pastoral Associate and as Director of Youth & Young Adult Ministries. Areas of ministry also include Sacramental Duties, Pastoral Counseling, Spiritual Direction, Death Row Ministry, and is a guest speaker from time to time at numerous organizations.
Throughout his death row ministry, Deacon Ed has worked with 16 men on Arizona's death row as their spiritual advisor and has witnessed the execution of 3 of these condemned men, including the botched execution of Joseph Woods (2014), who took nearly two hours to die after he was given the lethal injection. On March 5, 2023 I sat down with Deacon Ed at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Tucson, Arizona, where he described the traumatic details of his experiences as a witness to several executions.
The links below contain reports of several Arizona executions, written by or about Deacon Ed, focused primarily on the men that Deacon Ed ministered to in their final days and moments prior to their execution.
Studying Scripture from Death Row
Arizona inmate executed, state’s second in 8 days (2012)
Pending Execution of Clarence Dixon on May 11 - Diocese of Tucson Statement (2022)
Blog by Women of Grace about Arizona's execution of Robert Moorman (2012)