Aide: I Don't Want the Death Penalty for Anyone [2010-10-04] [Zenit]

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ROME, OCT. 4, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The director of the Vatican press office says he is against recourse to the death penalty, and wants capital punishment for no one anywhere in the world.

This was the affirmation made by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, as he offered his personal reflection on the Church’s opposition to current recourse to capital punishment.

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I think they need to be concerned with what is going on inside the Church.

what you should you do with someone who invaded a house and kills the wife and their two daughters after sexually abused them? what do you do wiht this person?
 
wisdomseeker said:
I think they need to be concerned with what is going on inside the Church.

what you should you do with someone who invaded a house and kills the wife and their two daughters after sexually abused them? what do you do wiht this person?
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Jail?
 
wisdomseeker said:
because they got caught afterwards.
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Ok, so what’s the issue?

The committed a crime, they went to jail for life (we must assume life imprisonment replaces the death penalty), and they cost the state a quarter of what they would have cost if they were executed.
 
About 18,000 innocent victims are murdered each year in the USA. In 2008, 37 criminal murderers were executed in the USA. When this guy says he doesn’t want the death penalty for anyone, he means the 37 criminal murderers. He doesn’t say anything about the 18,000 innocent victims who were executed by the criminal murderers.

1 in 6 prisoners in jail for life is serving a life without parole sentence in the USA. The others will all be released. Isn’t that peachy keen. Maybe, this Jesuit is really lobbying to eliminate “life sentences” where the criminals end up getting released and not serving the life. If he wants to convert life sentences so that all prisoners with life sentences serve for life, then that’s a good first step. Keep us informed on that one, so we all know when that happens.

But is that what this guy means? Life without parole. No, it is not. In Europe, 10 years is a long “life sentence.” That’s why justice demands that we cherish the innocent and punish the guilty. In the case of criminal murderes that means the death penalty.
 
Catholic_Press said:
ROME, OCT. 4, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The director of the Vatican press office says he is against recourse to the death penalty, and wants capital punishment for no one anywhere in the world.

This was the affirmation made by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, as he offered his personal reflection on the Church’s opposition to current recourse to capital punishment.

More…
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I agree with Fr. Lombardi.
 
mdzialo said:
But is that what this guy means? Life without parole. No, it is not. In Europe, 10 years is a long “life sentence.” That’s why justice demands that we cherish the innocent and punish the guilty. In the case of criminal murderes that means the death penalty.
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They don’t have the death penalty in Europe, but they do have life sentences, and sentences for other crimes lighter than those the U.S imposes. Has that made Europe a hotbed of serial murderers and criminals?

If the murderer can be isolated for as long as it takes, maybe 20 years, maybe 35 to life, maybe life without parole, depending on the case and the murderer, then there is no more reason for us to impose the death penalty, as the Church advises, than do the Europeans.
 
First, a “life” sentence seldom means Life Without Parole (LWOP). I could post dozens of cases where a person sentenced to life has been released only to kill again. Second, assuming that murderers are truly given LWOP, I could just as easily post a few dozen more instances of these prisoners murdering their fellow inmates.

Since the USA can not safely incarcerate these murderers and protect society from them (both other prisoners and prison staff), I firmly believe in the death penalty for some of these violent offenders where there is no doubt as to their guilt. This notion is completely within the framework of the CCC. I believe that some well intentioned clergy, religious, and lay people have their hearts in the right place but have little concept of reality.

An additional complaint I have with some of the social justice/anti-dp people in the church is that they seem to exclusively cater to the criminal while letting the suffering families languish. It is easy to find people rallying to support the criminal but hard to find support offered to the victims of crimes. For an interesting read, please visit the “Prison Talk” forums, specifically the death penalty section. It is enlightening to see how little they think of or even acknowledge the victims of the criminals. Often, when someone offers prayers or good wishes to the victims and families they are chastised.
Rich_Olszewski said:
They don’t have the death penalty in Europe, but they do have life sentences, and sentences for other crimes lighter than those the U.S imposes. Has that made Europe a hotbed of serial murderers and criminals?

If the murderer can be isolated for as long as it takes, maybe 20 years, maybe 35 to life, maybe life without parole, depending on the case and the murderer, then there is no more reason for us to impose the death penalty, as the Church advises, than do the Europeans.
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For those saying the problem with getting rid of the death penalty is that life in prison isn’t life in prison, wouldn’t it make more sense to make life in prison mean life in prison? Saying one is against one aspect of the law doesn’t mean one wants everything else to stay the same if it changes. Certainly the two should go hand-in-hand.

I also resent the idea that opposition to the death penalty means you’re in favour of murder. No one has argued those people deserve to die. It strikes me as quite the opposite, being in favour of the death penalty is being in favour of state sanctioned murder. Does Christianity not teach that everyone can be reformed?
 
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