Does Fratelli Tutti add anything new to the death penalty debate?

[sealabeag]

Does Fratelli Tutti add anything new to the death penalty debate, or are we in the same position as we were beforehand, that is, with Pope Francis calling it “inadmissible” but Catholics being free to disagree or agree, to support the death penalty or reject it?
Also, what is the weight of an encyclical authoritatively speaking? What elements within an encyclical must be accepted by the faithful and which may the faithful disagree with?

 

[tuffsmurf]

I would like to know the answer too, although I am already opposed to the death penalty.

 

[Genesis315]

I was expecting the worst to be totally honest, but I actually thought it brought things back a bit to the realm of Tradition, while still arguing strenuously for abolition. Instead of just citing himself, like the CCC does, he cites back to Evangelium Vitae putting it more clearly in that conditional context.

After re-affirming the importance of proportionate punishment, the arguments he lays out for why we should support its abolition do not seem to be based on a strict absolutist rejection, but on the various abuses, the message it sends in our time, and the general Christian approaches to seeking mercy and that the guilty be converted and live (especially in light of the citations to Pope St. Nicholas I and St. Augustine, which both in their original context specifically confirm the liceity in principle, while urging Christians to try and save all from death).