Death penalty: am I allowed to support it?

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I see so many Catholics who are against the death penalty. But am I allowed to support it in the Catholic Church, or is being pro-death penalty a heresy?
 
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Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) who was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued this letter to the US Bishops in 2004. It discusses life issues and focuses mostly on abortion and euthanasia, but I hope it helps.

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Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion: General Principles | EWTN

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As the Declaration of Truths issued by Cardinal Raymond Burke, Cardinal Janis Pujats, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Archbishop Pavel Lenga And Archbishop Thomash PEta noted: "In accordance with Holy Scripture and the constant tradition of the ordinary and universal Magisterium, the Church did not err in teaching that the civil power may lawfully exercise capital punishment on malefactors where this is truly necessary to preserve the existence or just order of societies
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13HrAs1ObxItPIa9TfPwmjnzVS9WPR3A-/view

So capital punishment can never be declared intrinsically evil. The key question is whether it is, in fact, necessary to preserve just order and protect innocent lives. If you feel there are compelling reasons as to why it is justified, then it would not be sinful for you to support it. But if it can be avoided it should be avoided, and it’s use would be sinful it it is used unjustly.
 
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I don’t think you can.

Capital punishment isn’t defined on the level of an intrinsic evil (the again neither are many other things) but the Church officially teaches against it so the faithful should acquiesce through obedience even if not through desire.
 
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Kima said:
St. Thomas Aquinas was for death penalty. He was a great doctor of the Church. Pope Francis are in heresy for changing that up.
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St Aquinas was for the death penalty once upon a time but not anymore; he is in Heaven praying and intervening for the Church.

The death penalty isn’t a doctrine. It’s something that is either part or not part of civil law.
 
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TK421 said:
St Aquinas was for the death penalty once upon a time but not anymore; he is in Heaven praying and intervening for the Church.
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Bad argument, that doesn´t invalidate my point. Catholic teaching is Catholic teaching no matter when it was established.
TK421 said:
The death penalty isn’t a doctrine. It’s something that is either part or not part of civil law.
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As a matter of fact, it is. However, Pope Francis changed it.
See this link: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2018/08...s-teaching-on-death-penalty-its-inadmissible/
 
Except a theologian or saint or angel saying something doesn’t make it Catholic teaching. Only the Magisterium can do that.

Pope Francis can’t change doctrine otherwise that means the Catholic Church is false.
 
Emeraldlady said:
Why do you support the death penalty in opposition to Church teaching??
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That’s an awesome question! Do you mean the teachings of the last 2000 years, or the more recent pronouncement that contradicts them?
 
MikeInVA said:
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Emeraldlady:
Why do you support the death penalty in opposition to Church teaching??
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That’s an awesome question! Do you mean the teachings of the last 2000 years, or the more recent pronouncement that contradicts them?
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Church teaching. The teaching of the Church relating to our time and place.
 
Emeraldlady said:
What are you saying is the ‘Truth’ regarding the death penalty?
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You stated (as I understood it) that the death penalty is in opposition to Church teaching. However, we have 2000 years of Catholic teaching, and several thousand years of Jewish teaching that say otherwise.
 
MikeInVA said:
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Emeraldlady:
What are you saying is the ‘Truth’ regarding the death penalty?
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You stated (as I understood it) that the death penalty is in opposition to Church teaching. However, we have 2000 years of Catholic teaching, and several thousand years of Jewish teaching that say otherwise.
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The Catholic Church opposes it now in light of the time. The Jews have resisted use of the death penalty for a very long time. The Death Penalty in Jewish Tradition | My Jewish Learning

Love of the death penalty is a strange hallmark of a US ‘cult’. Most Catholics in the US are aligned to Church teaching on the subject.
 
Emeraldlady said:
The Catholic Church opposes it now in light of the time. The Jews have resisted use of the death penalty for a very long time. The Death Penalty in Jewish Tradition | My Jewish Learning

Love of the death penalty is a strange hallmark of a US ‘cult’. Most Catholics in the US are aligned to Church teaching on the subject.
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As I stated above, the Truth is not relative to time or location, nor is it a matter of popular opinion.
 
And for that reason any Catholic should be excluded from a Jury in a death penalty case, as should any Catholic judge or prosecutor. We also should not vote for the death penalty. But honestly, I think it is just. We have a death penalty case right now where I live and I will have no problem with the killing of the man. My prayers and sympathy will lie with the victims and if they recieve comfort from the result, I’m happy for them.
 
It is an immutable truth that the civil power has the authority to inflict death as a proportionate and just punishment. No Catholic can rightfully deny this–not even the Pope. That being said, whether its use is conducive to the common good in any particular set of circumstances is a political question that can be evaluated and answered yes or no. Most of our prelates seem to believe that it is not conducive to the common good these days in most places. Sadly, Pope Francis has introduced confusion by conflating the two issues (to be fair, some of this fault must be born by John Paul II) to make it look like either the Church erred for 2000 years, or the Church errs today.

When Pope Francis introduced his incoherent amendment to the Catechism, I thought Archbishop Gomez gave a good explanation of it:

He affirmed the traditional doctrine:
The Scriptures, along with saints and teachers in the Church’s tradition, justify the death penalty as a fitting punishment for those who commit evil or take another person’s life. And the Church has always recognized that governments and civil authorities have the right to carry out executions in order to protect their citizens’ lives and punish those guilty of the gravest crimes against human life and the stability of the social order.
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In addition, he notes:
The Catechism is not equating capital punishment with the evils of abortion and euthanasia. Those crimes involve the direct killing of innocent life and they are always gravely immoral.
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He then notes “from a practical standpoint” it should no longer be used.

He elaborates more on the prudential aspect–“in these times and in this culture”–while acknowledging disagreement of those of good will (there is no condemnation of those who disagree):
I respect that many good people will continue to believe that our society needs the death penalty to express its moral outrage and to punish those who commit the ultimate crime of taking human life.

But I do not believe that public executions serve to advance that message in our secular society.

We all need to consider how much violence has become an accepted part of American society and popular culture. There is not only the random violence we see every day in our communities. But we are also a society that permits our children to play video games that involve them “virtually” killing their enemies; much of our popular “entertainment” consists of movies and other programs that involve fictional characters committing heinous murders and other unspeakable acts.

In this kind of society, executing criminals sends no moral signal. It is simply one more killing in a culture of death.

The Church today is pointing us in a different direction.

Showing mercy to those who do not “deserve” it, seeking redemption for persons who have committed evil, working for a society where every human life is considered sacred and protected — this is how we are called to follow Jesus Christ and proclaim his Gospel of life in these times and in this culture.
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Pretty sure the Church has supported the use of the death penalty for almost it’s entire existence. One of the only laws God gave to Noah for all mankind to follow was that murderers had to pay with their lives. It seems to fall in line with basic justice and the sanctity of human life. I know Francis has recently had some things to say on the topic, but I think the idea of changing 2000 years of church teachings “in the light of the times” kind of spits on the inerrancy of both scripture and tradition.

But I can’t say I’m truly an expert on the topic.
 
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