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dje101
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Is the Catholic Church against Capital Punishment?
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estesbob
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No. Not now , not ever.
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Rence
Guest
No, the Catholic Church is not against Capital Punishment, according to the Catechism:
Non-lethal means are not sufficient to defend and protect people’s safefty from certain criminals who continue to commit the same crimes, or who continue the same crimes while in jail, or who run a crime operation from within the walls of prison are just a few examples. In short, the Church respects the rights of nations to protect its citizens from harmful criminals, even if that includes capital punishment.
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dje101
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I’m not against it either, but I had heard that the CC was. My mom asked me this one time and I’d like to know what the CC says to the question: If the CC is so pro-life, then why do they support the death penalty?
I had told my mother that there are certain acts of violence and a breaking of God’s law that God says deserves death, such as murder. Is that the CC’s view as well? Just curious.
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Link0126
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I would think even outright support for the death penalty as well as it’s encouragement for certain crimes would still be in line with the Church b/c in the OT it says somewhere, I can’t remember where that the blood of the victims will cry out until the murderer is put to death.
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SuscipeMeDomine
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I think you highlighted the wrong part of the quote from the Catechism:
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 to 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 nonexistent."68
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nodito
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The Church teaches that bloodless means of protecting society are to be preferred.
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estesbob
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Lest we get into another interminable "it depends on what the menaing of is, is " discussions lets let the Pope explain it:
*. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.
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estesbob
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Lest we get into another interminable "it depends on what the meaning of is, is " discussions lets let the Pope explain it:
*. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.
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estesbob
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Absolutely. Although I personally believe that the death penalty is never appropriate that is not what the church teaches. It is not possible for the church to forbid the death penalty. To do so would go against 2000 years of teaching and tradition. You can bet that were the church to do this we would be inundated with demands that the same enlightenment that brought about this change should be applied to female clergy and homosexual marriage. The one thing that is separated the Catholic Church from nearly all other faiths in the last generation has been their refusal to bend to the whim of the current culture. I will admit, however, that their attempt to show their displeasure at the use of the death penalty without fornidding it has led to a lot of confusion.
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Crumpy
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There is a current news article posted on the EWTN website about the bishops of Arizona (as I recall) speaking out against the death penalty.
Oddly, I am in favor of the death penalty, and I would set a much lower threshold for its use. I watch those shows on cable about the violence in the maximum security prisons across the country, where inmates are radicalized. They go into prison for minor crimes and are driven to commit major crimes in the prisons.
When prisoners start throwing feces at guard and attacking other prisoners and guards, as far as I’m concerned they have proven that they cannot be controlled or rehabilitated. There should be authorized the use of force against them, use drugs on them, etc. The prison staffs have to be able to use far greater means to get the prisons under control. There are gangs that are run out of the prisons.
Society is clearly in danger. We’ve given these people every chance and they simply have turned themselves into vicious enemies of civil society.
Oddly, I am in favor of the death penalty, and I would set a much lower threshold for its use. I watch those shows on cable about the violence in the maximum security prisons across the country, where inmates are radicalized. They go into prison for minor crimes and are driven to commit major crimes in the prisons.
When prisoners start throwing feces at guard and attacking other prisoners and guards, as far as I’m concerned they have proven that they cannot be controlled or rehabilitated. There should be authorized the use of force against them, use drugs on them, etc. The prison staffs have to be able to use far greater means to get the prisons under control. There are gangs that are run out of the prisons.
Society is clearly in danger. We’ve given these people every chance and they simply have turned themselves into vicious enemies of civil society.
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thistle
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The bottom line is that the Church is against the death penalty but accepts that it may be necessary in some rare instances. Of course, as individuals we are free to support capital punishment or not.
The Church urges countries to abolish it and here in the Philippines when the death penalty was abolished the Church publicly rejoiced about that decision.
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estesbob
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The church does now and always has allowed for the death penalty
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JReducation
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The problem that all of you need to focus on is not whether the state has or does not have the right to use capital punishment. The Church has not taken that away nor will she. What many of you are missing is the Church’s concern over how and when capital punishment is used.
Let’s look at the bigger picture here.
It’s very easy to say that the state has a divine right to execute criminals, because we in the USA are not considered criminals if we disagree with the state, change religions, have sex with a non-spouse, or do some other thing that in this country would not be a crime or if it is illegal, it’s not a felony.
If we sustain that the state has the right to execute, but we do not place parameters on the exercise of that right, then we cannot criticize the many nations of the world that commit human rights violations. After all, they are executing those, who according to their laws, are criminals. To blindly say that the state can execute criminals, without demanding that the state clarify what constitutes a crime and a hierarchy of crimes and without demanding that the state use this right as God allows it to be used, not according to its ideologies, if we give the state that much freedom, we unkowingly support violations against humanity.
That’s the Church’s concern with capital punishment. It should be the concern of every man and woman with a conscience, regardless of his or her religion or political affiliation.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
Let’s look at the bigger picture here.
- The Church does not write just for the USA. She teaches the world; therefore, she has to look a the big picture.
- We all know that capital punishment is abused. Look at countries where it is a crime to disagree with the state, a crime punishable by death. Look at the Muslim countries where converting out of Islam is punishable by death. Look at some African countries where sexual intercouse by same-sex partners is punishable by death. Look at the USA where the number of people punished by death seems to be higher among minorities and low income people or where one person is punished by death in one state and another is running free on parole in another state, having committed the same crime. The Church is keenly aware that the rights and duties of the state are given by God. But she is also keenly aware that the judicial system in many countries is unfair or broken. This malfunction leads to sins against justice.
- The Church realizes that capital punishment can be used as a solution as quickly as we use abortion or euthanasia, when in fact the problem is not solved by the death penalty. Until you fix a broken judicial system you may find yourself using capital punishment unnecessarily.
It’s very easy to say that the state has a divine right to execute criminals, because we in the USA are not considered criminals if we disagree with the state, change religions, have sex with a non-spouse, or do some other thing that in this country would not be a crime or if it is illegal, it’s not a felony.
If we sustain that the state has the right to execute, but we do not place parameters on the exercise of that right, then we cannot criticize the many nations of the world that commit human rights violations. After all, they are executing those, who according to their laws, are criminals. To blindly say that the state can execute criminals, without demanding that the state clarify what constitutes a crime and a hierarchy of crimes and without demanding that the state use this right as God allows it to be used, not according to its ideologies, if we give the state that much freedom, we unkowingly support violations against humanity.
That’s the Church’s concern with capital punishment. It should be the concern of every man and woman with a conscience, regardless of his or her religion or political affiliation.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
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thistle
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That is what I said. However, allowing for it/accepting it is not the same as being in favour of it. The Church is not in favour of it but rather accepts it may sometimes (almost never) be necessary.
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JReducation
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You have summarized it correctly. We, the faithful, have to take Evangelium Vitae to heart. Those who have not read it, should at least read the section on capital punishment. Pope John Paul did a great job walking the fine line, not changing a Church teaching regarding the rights of the State, while at the same time pointing to the dangers of giving the State too many rights or not giving the State moral parameters to exercise these rights.
Sometimes, because we live in a country where government is by consent of the governed, we forget that this is not the case for the rest of the world. While God does give certain rights to the State, he also places restraints on the State. Often, Christians who are for capital punishment, fail to place the necessary restraints on its use. It’s very dangerous to say, “It’s the right of the State to do this.” If the State has that right, without parameters, then we have nothing to complain about when it declares that homosexuality, adultery, converting to another religion, political dissent and other behaviors are crimes punishable by death. To most of us in the civilized world, such a punishment is barbaric.
Capital punishment exists to protect the life of the innocent and vulnerable, not to protect ideologies (religious or political). Pope John Paul uses philosophy to show how we have turned democracy into a goal in life instead of a means and how we protect that goal even by violating morality.
Democracy must be used to ensure that such barbarism is curbed and that when the State acts in such barbaric manner, the governed can peacefully replace the government. This way, you keep everything within the moral law. The State acts within the moral parameters and so do the governed.
That’s why it is the right of the bishops in any country to dictate to the State what is or is not moral. The local bishops have the advantage of being citizens, which gives them the same rights as any other citizen. They also have the role of moral teachers. It is not up to the bishops to find a way to execute laws so that they comply with moral law. That’s the role of people in government. The bishops can offer suggestions; but the burden of finding something that works is on the legislators. The burden of pushing the legislators to find something that works and remains within the moral boundaries of the Church is on the voters.
Because there are many nations where government is different, people don’t vote on laws. The Church and the faithful have to be the voice of reason and conscience for these governments in a way that does not upset the social order while delivering the moral message.
This is just an anecdote, but it may help. I was a missionary in a country where the voters have no voice in the constitution. Parliament writes and abolishes the constitution at will. In it’s 200-year history the country had more than 10 constitutions that I can recall reading about. In that country, this actually works. The citizens are not interested in the legalities of government. They simply want things to work and if they don’t work, they want the government to fix it. They have a very simple system of doing this, one term for everyone. They simply stagger the elections so that you don’t change both houses of Parliament the President and Prime Minister all at the same time.
The issue of capital punishment came up. The population was against it, but it was in the constitution. The population elected a parliament that was against capital punishment. The new parliament changed the constitution. This is an example of the voice of the people bringing change without upsetting the social order. In other words, you don’t always need bloodbaths to bring about change.
We have to encourage our brothers and sisters around the world to monitor their governments to ensure that they act within moral parameters, without violating the rights of government and without upsetting the social order. As a Church, we can’t just speak about capital punishment as if everyone were European or American. This is not the case. The Church’s attention to this matter must be global.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
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