Want some evidence that the combined efforts of the U.S. bishops and of lay Catholics can change the mind of a Catholic politician on a human life issue?

Read this account of how the intervention of the Catholic hierarchy and of anti-death penalty Catholic activists was decisive in convincing New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to sign legislation banning capital punishment.

On March 18, following last-minute discussions with Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces, N.M., and Allen Sanchez, executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops, Richardson instructed his staff to leave him alone while he made a final decision about whether to sign state legislation banning capital punishment.

Prior to extensive discussions with Catholic opponents of the death penalty — including a letter from Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Domestic Justice and Human Development Committee that explained to Richardson that the legislation “would help begin building a culture of life in our country” — the Catholic governor was a death penalty supporter.

But following his meeting with Bishop Ramirez and Sanchez, Richardson decided to sign the legislation only six hours before it would have died without his signature.

Who says the interventions of the Catholic bishops don’t make any difference in helping Catholic politicians reverse their positions on sanctity of human life issues? Not Bill Richardson, that’s for sure.