An international Catholic association has for decades been working to abolish the death penalty worldwide, an Indonesian retreat has been told.

Fighting against the penalty is part of the  Community of Sant’Egidio’s Christian mission, Leonardo Agung Tranggono told some 60 Catholics attending a July 1-3 retreat the association organized in Cipayung, West Java.

“Human beings are treasures,” said the member of the community, which has a branch in Indonesia.

Bishops and Religious were among those who attended the retreat.

The community’s campaign against the death penalty started in the 1990s when media published reports of 18-year-old American Dominique Green, who was sentenced to death for murder and robbery.

Community members communicated with him through letters and some even visited him in jail, Tranggono told ucanews.com.

The community’s friendship with Green helped him change gradually and he started reading the Bible, said Tranggono.

Green was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas, in 2004.

Since then, the community has been campaigning against the death penalty in schools and universities.

“We work together with various international organizations including Amnesty International and World Coalition against the Death Penalty,” said Tranggono.

The Community of Sant’Egidio, whose mission is service to the poor, ecumenism and dialogue, started in Rome, Italy, in 1968. Today it has 50,000 members in more than 70 countries.