The Church is supposed to tell us what to think on matters of morality and faith.
What is not being understood here by the readership is what the bishops are saying. They are not retracting what the Church has always taught regarding capital punishment. We can’t use that tired argument that the Church believed something for X number of years and now discovers that it’s wrong. That’s not what is happening. Circumstances change. Today, we have other means to protect society.
The Church looks at the bigger picture. Capital punishment is not stopping crime. We still have a high crime rate. The moral value of capital punishment is to protect the vulnerable. The vulnerable are still being hurt. You kill Mr. X and he’s replaced by Mr. Y. The Church looks at the whole thing and says, "This does not work the way that it is intended to work. It becomes a barbaric act to appease public indignation, not protection of the vulnerable.
The Church cannot allow the State to act without moral rules. It’s very dangerous to say, “The State has a God-given right to execute criminals” and leave it at that.
Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict, lived under the Nazis and Communists saw how the state abused capital punishment. The state declared anything that was opposed to its interests as a crime and then proceeded to execute. Being a Jew was a crime. Political dissent was a crime. In Saudi Arabia, being gay is a crime. In Iran, converting to Christianity is a crime. To say that the State can execute criminals, because God said so, without explaining to people and to the State how and when God wants the State to use that power, is also a crime.
They declared all kinds a capital offenses and millions of people died. Americans live in a bubble. But the Catholic Church does not exist in a bubble. She has to look at the big picture. We have never lived in Germany, China, The Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia, etc. It sounds fine to us to just say “The state has a divine right to execute.” Sure, because we don’t have a State that has said that sleeping with your neighbor is a capital offense. If you had a gay son and it was a captial offense, you may have second thoughts about giving the State unrestrained power.
Government abuses of power during the life of the Church has caused the Church to realize that she cannot let government rule without moral rules. There is a right and a wrong time to use capital punishment. There are resources that have not been used and other resources that are wasted.
In our country, we say that it would be a burden on the taxpayer to lock people away for life. However, we have capital punishment for the unborn. It’s a multi-trillion dollar industry. Now, we have a government that is willing to put billions of dollars to subsidize it, but if you tell the tax-payer to shift those funds toward a better prison system and toward reforming the legal system, they say it’s too expensive.
The Church must remind us that the way that we use capital punishment is immoral. We’re using it because we can’t afford to keep people in jail, not because we can’t do it. It’s a financial issue not a “technical” issue as it was in the 1200s or some such date. We invest a lot of money in areas that do not serve the common good. The common man, you and I, are being forced to pay for things that do not benefit the common good of the nation or the world. How much do you and I pay for abortions in foreign countries, to bail out bank executives?
Then there is human dignity. The Church has never denied this. This goes back to the Gospels. We see it in the story of the woman caught in adultery. Christ treats her with dignity. The law said that the State had the right to execute. Did Christ violate the divine law by intervening? His statement is very clear. “let him who has no sin throw the first stone.” He’s pointing out a fact. Revelation said that execution had to be just. not arbitrary and illegal. In this case, the law was that the couple had to be punished. Where was the partner? “You can’t kill this woman while you’re violating the moral law.” That’s what he’s telling them.
The Church never supported arbitrary capital punishment. During the existence of the Holy Roman Empire, all laws concerning capital punishment needed the approval of the Holy See. The Church always regulated this practice.
During the Middle Ages, Francis of Assis founded the first Secular Order in the Catholic Church. Which today is the largest order in the Catholic Church. It’s a true order, not a club. He wrote into it rule that no brother or sister of the order could take up arms in defense of any nation, nor could any member of the order make use of execution without the consent of the bishop. Many of these Secular Franciscans were law makers and monarchs. They had to get permission to use capital punishment and to go to war or suffer excommunication.
The Church lost control over capital punishemnt after the American and French Revolution, because both systems were very anti-clerical and ati Catholic.
The Church is also interested in providing any sinner the opportunity for conversion. If you kill someone, you don’t leave much room for that. We have seen some powerful conversion by people who committed horrible crimes.
Franciscans have always admitted ex-convicts to the order. There was Alessandro Frasseti who killed Maria Goretti (sp?). When I was a novice, I had the privilege of living in the cell next to Brother Jim Townsend who murdered his pregnant wife. He’s a very holy man. I’m not revealing anyting confidential here. His story is well known. Someone wrote a book about him.
americancatholic.org/Messenger/Jul2007/books.asp
Those who know Jim and have been served by him would tell you that there is great value in using other means to correct the sinner.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
