As the state of Arizona prepared to execute Clarence Dixon, the Diocese of Phoenix held a prayer vigil Tuesday to pray that the government will one day abolish the death penalty, something the Church opposes.

Dixon, who was put to death Wednesday, is the first person executed by Arizona in eight years. He was one of 113 prisoners on death row in the state.

“Bishop Thomas Olmsted led a one-hour prayer vigil last night at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral, the evening before the scheduled execution of Clarence Dixon,” the diocese posted on Facebook. 

“Bishop Olmsted was joined by Bishop Eduardo Nevares, the Sisters of Life and other diocesan leaders as they prayed together for victims, for aggressors, and for the state to abolish use of the death penalty,” it continued. “In doing so, they are united with Pope Francis who has advocated for a global end to capital punishment.”

Dixon, 66, was executed by lethal injection in connection with the murder of 21-year-old Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin in 1978, Yahoo News reported. Dixon has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and is said to experience hallucinations regularly. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a separate assault case that occurred two days before Bowdoin's murder, the report said. 

The Catholic Church stands against the death penalty, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) says.

"The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of life in every situation,” St. Pope John Paul II said in 1999, the USCCB said. “A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil... I renew the appeal I made... for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary.” 

Pope Francis, in expanding on that sentiment, called for Catholics to work towards its abolition, according to America Magazine.

"Today we state clearly that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible’ and the Church is firmly committed to calling for its abolition worldwide,” he wrote in his encyclical “Fratelli Tutti.” A papal encyclical is an authoritative document of church doctrine.