According to a cardinal, Pope Francis has taken interest in the case of a man whose execution has been scheduled this week.

While at the Vatican discussing the church's plans on promoting mercy, Vienna's Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn revealed that he knew this fact as he has been in touch with the man, Richard Masterson. He did not specify what kind of contact the Texan man had with the pontiff.

"Richard has been waiting 12 years for his execution," Cardinal Schoenborn noted. "It is frightening."

Masterson was convicted in 2001 for "strangling a female impersonator" in Houston, according to Fox News Latino.

As per the news source, Masterson's lawyers said his previous attorneys were not doing their jobs and that the confession he made regarding Darin Shane Honeycutt's death was done improperly.

"Appeals have also argued that Masterson is innocent of the killing and that medical examiner testimony about the victim's death was misleading."

The 43-year-old himself had requested for the death penalty at his sentencing back in 2002. The request was granted, although he did not admit to the prosecutor at that time that he did kill Honeycutt, according to Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

However, in early 2015, Masterson changed his stance and filed an appeal, which was rejected by judges at the New Orleans Court, where the petition was lodged, as per Houston Chronicle.

Pope Francis' interest in Masterson's case has connections to the pontiff's advocacy for mercy. During his US visit, he spoke to the Congress about abolishing the death penalty as "every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes," according to a report by The Guardian.

Although the death penalty is still in place in the U.S., it is reportedly declining. Despite this, the country is still one of the leading nations implementing capital punishment, belonging to the top five countries with the most executions carried out globally, according to The Washington Post, citing Amnesty International data.

Further, most of the Americans are still in favor of capital punishment, although the number of supporters have also decreased over the last two decades.

Currently, Masterson is set to be executed Wednesday.

Aside from Pope Francis and Cardinal Schoenborn, a group of Christians have reportedly also taken interest in Masterson due to "the witness of the closeness of Jesus to this man, who thus has the sweet experience of the merciful heart of Jesus," as stated by the Viennese cardinal.

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