U.S. Bishops to draft death penalty statement

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By Jerry Filteau

CHICAGO (CNS) – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops June 16 decided to hold an annual day of prayer for priestly vocations and to draft a statement on the death penalty for consideration this November.
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Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of Brooklyn, N.Y., chairman of the Committee on Domestic Policy, requested approval by the bishops to draft a new statement opposing all use of the death penalty in the United States and present it to the bishops for debate and a vote when they meet in Washington this November.

He said it has been 25 years since the bishops issued a statement specifically on the use of the death penalty, and a great deal has changed since then – including widespread work by bishops at the state level to fight capital punishment, repeated statements by Pope John Paul II opposing use of the death penalty in almost all circumstances, and strong opposition to its use in the “Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

He also noted that public opinion polls show growing opposition to capital punishment by U.S. Catholics, especially among Catholics who regularly attend church.

Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington urged development of such a statement, saying that with the change in Catholic public opinion, “this is a tremendous moment; if we don’t take this moment, we lose a great opportunity.”

Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston said that unfortunately Texas leads the nation in the number of executions it performs. “I consider this statement extremely important for us,” he said.

The bishops’ approval to draft such a statement for consideration in November came in an apparently unanimous voice vote, with no audible nays. . . .
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Hmmm. Justification for this action seems to rest on:

1 - Prior actions of U.S. Bishops
2 - public opinion polls
3 - prudential judgement of Pope John Paul II
4 - Non-absolute statements found in the CCC

How about reliance on actual Church doctrine?

And by the way, “almost all circumstances” does not equal “all circumstances.”
 
I fear some bishops base their prioritites more on opinion polls rather than Church Doctrine. How else could the death penalty be their number one, and only, concern at this time?
 
Oh no, not again. :nope:

May God have mercy on them for sowing seeds of doubt and confusion.

Here we go with more heretical Catholics comparing abortion to the death penalty. And in this instance, these heretical Catholics are and will be listening to their bishops. :mad:

The bright side of it is it could be worse… at least the American bishops are not Arian or Dualists. 😉
 
Cardinal Dulles, a theologian, has explained Catholic doctrine related to the death penalty. It is worthwhile to read and clarifies what some think are confusions.

Many of us have been misguided in this debate. I personally would like to see it ended in the US. The one big obstacle standing in the way consists of groups such as activist judges, the ACLU and others who campaign to release dangerous predators that prey on innocents.

Why are we saddled with an artificial system in which life-sentenced predators are so often released early into society?
 
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Lizzie:
Cardinal Dulles, a theologian, has explained Catholic doctrine related to the death penalty. It is worthwhile to read and clarifies what some think are confusions.
Click to expand...
I love Cardinal Dulles. Here is a link to his articulate and thorough explanation of “Catholicism & Capital Punishment”:

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0461.html
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Lizzie:
Many of us have been misguided in this debate. I personally would like to see it ended in the US. The one big obstacle standing in the way consists of groups such as activist judges, the ACLU and others who campaign to release dangerous predators that prey on innocents.
Click to expand...
I once was in the opinion that the Catholic Church was opposed to the death penalty, then I did research into Catholic documents and found out it was not the case. I too would like to see it ended in the US. I am in support of the end the bishops are trying to achieve. I do not agree with the means.
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Lizzie:
Why are we saddled with an artificial system in which life-sentenced predators are so often released early into society?
Click to expand...
You hit the nail on the head with pointing to the groups who see prison as a place of rehab where one eventually changes his/her ways and then can get out.
 
Dear Hildebrand,

Once we rely on the MSM to interpret, we have a big problem.

As an aside, I recently e-mailed Sr. PreJean’s organization to ask why she actually works against us who would like to get rid of the death penalty. Her employees assured me that my she will see my complaint. PreJean is a notable who is prominently mentioned by the ‘Free Mumia’. What is wrong with this picture?

If activist judges, immoral lawyers and misguided protesters continue to work to campaign to free predators who injure the innocent, what are we to do?
 
The Catholic church in the US would be much better served if the bishops would leave the death penalty up to the states and admit to and address the problem of homosexuals in the priesthood.
 
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geezerbob:
The Catholic church in the US would be much better served if the bishops would leave the death penalty up to the states and admit to and address the problem of homosexuals in the priesthood.
Click to expand...
I loved the Catholic editor some time back who once sighed in public…“I wish the bishops would take care of what the bishops are supposed to take care of and let the laity take care of what the laity is supposed to take care of…”

I think it’s called deflection — we saw it bandied about by McCarrick/Gregory when the Ratzinger letter to the NCCB became public, they started talking about the death penalty, the poor, social services, etc equalizing them all…fooled no one, but did fill out the press conference times…sigh.
 
I look forward to what they have to say. I have always had difficulty with this issue and if there is any possible they say something new, I will be happy to read it. My only concern, since we are not dealing with a black/white, throughout history, issue, is that they may not get advice outside of theology. Everything written lately against the death penalty involves language like, " at this time" or “in today’s society”. This type of language should mandate a non-theological imput as to the reality of what our justice system can, and can not do.
 
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