Capital punishment never justified, Pope argues [CC]

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“Nowadays the death penalty is inadmissible, no matter how serious the crime committed,” Pope Francis said at a March 20 meeting with members of the International Committee against the …

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To say it is “never” justified contradicts what it says about it in the CCC. So I’m not sure what to think about this. Can someone here help me understand? Anyway, he was speaking at a meeting which means that it wasn’t intended as an infallible statement. So, I think the CCC would take precedence.
 
I simply do not agree. I think that many more people are murdered and maimed thanks to the rarity of prompt death penalty implementation. :cool:
 
From the article:

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the death penalty may be used “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.” However, it adds, such cases today “are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.”
 
fabio_rocha said:
ARTICLE:
catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-no-matter-what-the-crime-the-death-penalty-is-inadmissible-89127/

Isn’t he going agaisnt the CCC? I’m pretty sure there’s a statement that says in an extreme and rare situation the Church agrees on apllying the death penalty.
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This is what the catechism says 2267 Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically non-existent.” 68
 
The Church has an opinion on the Death Penalty, and in most cases I agree especially in light of the number of false imprisonments that have been admitted. However, we don’t live in a Theocracy so we, as Church members, can make our position known to the State but the State is under no obligation to heed our request. Eliminating the Death Penalty may even require constitutional amendments is many jurisdictions.

The path to elimination is through the proper petition and balloting process.
 
fabio_rocha said:
ARTICLE:
catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-no-matter-what-the-crime-the-death-penalty-is-inadmissible-89127/

Isn’t he going agaisnt the CCC? I’m pretty sure there’s a statement that says in an extreme and rare situation the Church agrees on apllying the death penalty.
Click to expand...
No,what he’s saying isn’t in contradiction with the CCC.
The extreme and rare situations mentioned in the CCC are extremely rare/non existant to find in today’s world,particularly in developed countries.
For example,the death penalty might be justified in a circumstance where there were no prisons to put the murderer (for example) and therefor the public was in imminent danger of him but in reality,in today’s modern world,this theoretical situation doesn’t exist so giving the death penalty is extremely rarely-if ever-justifiable.
 
Elena321 said:
No,what he’s saying isn’t in contradiction with the CCC.
The extreme and rare situations mentioned in the CCC are extremely rare/non existant to find in today’s world,particularly in developed countries.
**For example,the death penalty might be justified in a circumstance where there were no prisons to put the murderer (for example) and therefor the public **was in imminent danger of him but in reality,in today’s modern world,this theoretical situation doesn’t exist so giving the death penalty is extremely rarely-if ever-justifiable.
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One thing to keep in mind is that it is not just the public outside the prisons who are to be protected, but guards and other inmates as well.
 
Brendan said:
One thing to keep in mind is that it is not just the public outside the prisons who are to be protected, but guards and other inmates as well.
Click to expand...
Do the statistics actually show that death row guards and inmates are more highly vulnerable than guards and inmates in the general prison population?
 
livingwordunity said:
To say it is “never” justified contradicts what it says about it in the CCC. So I’m not sure what to think about this. Can someone here help me understand? Anyway, he was speaking at a meeting which means that it wasn’t intended as an infallible statement. So, I think the CCC would take precedence.
Click to expand...
The Church is adopting a gradually serious language which has given people time to re-orient their perspective in places where capital punishment was mistakenly thought to be a divine command and intrinsically indispensable. I’ve observed that gradual transformation over the last 15 or so years via the internet discussion medium.
 
We will read the usual here on CAF.

If folks like what a Pope says its’ “LISTEN! LISTEN!!”
If it concerns immigration, capital punishment, or the environment we hear “weeelll, that’s only prudential judgment. . . . move on”.
 
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