What’s next: But a big question remains: When will Bowers be put to death?

An even bigger question: Will he actually be executed?

As Religion New Service’s Yonat Shimron points out, “it will take years and likely decades for the sentence to be carried out, if it happens at all.”

RNS explains:

Bowers will join 41 others on federal death row. Sixteen people have been executed by the federal government since Congress reinstated capital punishment in 1988. Bowers’ defense team is now expected to appeal the verdict to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. He may then have other appeals available to him, up to and including the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, in 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a moratorium on federal executions, officially to allow the the Justice Department to review policies and procedures surrounding the practice. 

Bowers, 50, will likely live for the foreseeable future —  most likely in Terre Haute, Indiana, where most federal death row prisoners are housed.

See additional coverage by the Wall Street Journal’s Kris Maher and the Washington Post’s David Nakamura.

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Pope in Portugal: Citing politics, conspiracies and peace, the National Catholic Reporter’s Brian Fraga and Christopher White detail the complicated nature of Francis’ visit to Fátima.

In an equally insightful piece, White delves into how World Youth Days test the limits of aging popes.

While in Portugal, Francis visited a once-troubled neighborhood in Lisbon to draw attention to the Catholic Church’s charitable side and met with survivors of clergy sex abuse in that country, The Associated Press’ Nicole Winfield reports.