Pope Francis Calls for Abolition of Death Penalty

[TMC]

The Pope also asked that all Catholic leaders refrain from carrying out any existing death sentences during the current year of mercy.

zenit.org/articles/pope-francis-calls-for-abolition-of-death-penalty/

 

[CNA_News]

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/i...t_Daniel_Ibanez_CNA_6_CNA_12_11_15.jpgVatican City, Feb 21, 2016 / 03:39 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Christians must work to abolish the death penalty and improve prison conditions, Pope Francis said on Sunday.

After praying the Angelus on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis called on all Christians and people of good will to work “not only for the abolition of the death penalty” but also to improve the conditions in prison. These efforts would respect the human dignity of prisoners, he said.

He appealed to the consciences of government leaders to join “the international consensus for the abolition of the death penalty.” He asked Catholic leaders not to hold executions during the Year of Mercy. This would be as a “courageous and exemplary act,” he said Feb. 21.

Rome will host an international convention for those working to abolish the death penalty on Feb. 22. The event is being promoted by the Sant’Egidio Community.

Pope Francis said he hoped that the gathering can strengthen efforts to abolish capital punishment.

“The commandment ‘Thou shall not kill’ has absolute value and concerns both the innocent and the guilty,” he said. Even criminals “maintain the inviolable right to life, the gift of God.”

He said the penal system must always be open to the hope of reintegrating criminals into society.

The Pope condemned the death penalty on Sept. 24, 2015 during his visit to the United States

“The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development,” he told a joint meeting of Congress.

Before the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis discussed the Gospel reading and the Transfiguration of Jesus. He connected this to his recent trip to Mexico.

The Pope said his apostolic visit to Mexico was “an experience of transfiguration.” He added: “the Lord has shown us the light of his glory through the body of the Church, the body of his holy people who live in that land.”

The Pope spoke with many people during the Feb. 12-18 visit, including families, workers and prisoners.

He said these people gave “a testimony of a clear and strong faith, the testimony of a lived faith, of a faith that transfigures life.”

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Full article…

 

[Upgrade25]

Thank goodness. Good on the pope!

.

Agreed. No good comes from the death penalty.

 

[gabanzo]

Good for the Pope. May. God bless him!

 

[utah_rose]

Agreed. No good comes from the death penalty.

Actually though, for some sentenced to death and waiting in solitary confinement for years and years waiting for appeals is probably worse. Also, leaving criminals such as child molesters or murderers in with fellow prisoners can cruelly inflict beatings and worse. Conditions in some foreign prisons such as Mexico are worse. Some of these people probably would prefer death rather then these conditions.

 

[tomarin]

Actually though, for some sentenced to death and waiting in solitary confinement for years and years waiting for appeals is probably worse. Also, leaving criminals such as child molesters or murderers in with fellow prisoners can cruelly inflict beatings and worse. Conditions in some foreign prisons such as Mexico are worse. Some of these people probably would prefer death rather then these conditions.

Prisons are definitely not nice places, yet as long as there is life there is hope (I like to believe): hope of redemption, hope of contrition.

 

[queenofheartscv]

I don’t understand why prisons need to be nice places. Would Kind of defeat the purpose.

 

[queenofheartscv]

Agreed. No good comes from the death penalty.

The death penalty prepares a person to see God for his final judgement. If one repents, this will be a “provided” death.

 

[ringil]

But then folks can just say “Prudential Judgment”. . . .

and move on. . . .

 

[Brendan]

Prisons are definitely not nice places, yet as long as there is life there is hope (I like to believe): hope of redemption, hope of contrition.

The Death Penalty is not contradictory to redemption. The Oklahoma City Bomber, Timothy McVeigh, rekindled his childhood Catholic Faith while on Death Row, and received the Sacraments just prior to his death.

As Avery Cardinal Dulles noted

The sentence of death, however, can and sometimes does move the condemned person to repentance and conversion. There is a large body of Christian literature on the value of prayers and pastoral ministry for convicts on death row or on the scaffold. In cases where the criminal seems incapable of being reintegrated into human society, the death penalty may be a way of achieving the criminal’s reconciliation with God.

 

[TMC]

But then folks can just say “Prudential Judgment”. . . .

and move on. . . .

I think it is getting hard for Catholics to seriously tell themselves that the Church’s position on the death penalty is somehow optional.

 

[queenofheartscv]

I think it is getting hard for Catholics to seriously tell themselves that the Church’s position on the death penalty is somehow optional.

What do you mean? It’s obligatory for catholics to condemn death penalty? They never taught me that in RCIA classes.

 

[pnewton]

I don’t understand why prisons need to be nice places. Would Kind of defeat the purpose.

*The *purpose? Which purpose is the purpose?

 

[Maximilan_Kolbe]

But then folks can just say “Prudential Judgment”. . . .

and move on. . . .

Or “informed conscience?” That always seems to be the excuse for a host of sins in the Church.

Nonetheless, I am opposed to the DP, abortion, cloning, gay “marriage”, euthanasia, and fetal stem cell research, either way.

 

[TMC]

What do you mean? It’s obligatory for catholics to condemn death penalty? They never taught me that in RCIA classes.

The Catholic Church’s teaching on the death penalty is clear. The Church teaches that while it is theoretically licit to use the death penalty where no other means to protect society is available, that situation does not arise in today’s society. For that reason, the death penalty as it is used today is against the Church’s teaching. Pope Francis is emphasizing that teaching, but it is not new.

 

[Lormar]

What do you mean? It’s obligatory for catholics to condemn death penalty? They never taught me that in RCIA classes.

It’s not, and instead of calling for the abolition of the death penalty, why doesn’t he call for the abolition of abortion?

 

[Tbrightson]

Funny how the Church had no problem with the death penalty for centuries.

Oh and BTW Your Holiness, its “Thou shall not murder” not “Thou Shall Not Kill”…

You’d think the Pope would have a basic understanding of Biblical Hebrew…

Murder is unlawful killing. The death penalty is very lawful.

 

[Ender]

‘The commandment “Thou shall not kill” has absolute value and concerns both the innocent and the guilty’, he said. Even criminals “maintain the inviolable right to life, the gift of God.”

I guess this is as good a place as any to start. This statement is not correct. Unless we are to believe the church has reversed 2000 years of teaching on not just capital punishment, but just wars, and self defense, there are times when taking a life is justified. Even the current catechism recognizes the possibility of times when capital punishment could be justified, that is, of times when the right to life is not inviolable. The right to life of the innocent might be inviolate, but that is surely not true of the guilty.

Ender

 

[Ender]

But then folks can just say “Prudential Judgment”. . . .
and move on. . . .

It is easy to ridicule the argument that the teaching in the catechism on capital punishment contains prudential judgment. What is difficult is actually supporting that position with a reasoned argument of your own. If you believe 2267 is not a considered judgment then make a case for it.

Ender

 

[Ender]

The Catholic Church’s teaching on the death penalty is clear. The Church teaches that while it is theoretically licit to use the death penalty where no other means to protect society is available, that situation does not arise in today’s society. For that reason, the death penalty as it is used today is against the Church’s teaching. Pope Francis is emphasizing that teaching, but it is not new.

The primary objective of punishment is not the protection of society; it is retribution, retributive justice. Capital punishment is wrong when it is unnecessary to satisfy the primary objective, not when it is unnecessary to satisfy a secondary one.

The question of whether it is necessary as a means of protection is a judgment, one which is in fact the right and responsibility of individual governments to make. The use of capital punishment may well be against the wishes of most of the current Magisterium, but it is no way against the teaching of the church.

Ender