Pope offers 'absolute condemnation' of death penalty
October 23, 2014
Pope Francis called for the “absolute condemnation of the death penalty” in an October 23 address to the International Association of Penal Law, the Vatican reports.
The Pope said that Christians should categorically reject the death penalty. He observed that capital punishment has been used by totalitarian regimes to crush opposition. He also alluded to the extra-judicial executions that have been condoned by some repressive regimes, such as the military dictatorship in his native Argentina.
In his speech the Pope also decried abuses of the judicial process, such as lengthy pretrial detention without charges, degrading prison conditions, torture and inhuman treatment, and harsh punishments meted out to the young and the elderly.
Pope Francis also spoke about crimes that offend against human dignity. He mentioned human trafficking and slavery, and the public corruption that allows some people to accumulate massive wealth while others live in abject poverty.
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Posted by: ILM -
Oct. 24, 2014 9:02 PM ET USA
This gives cover for liberals to vote for a candidate that is pro abortion and anti capital punishment.
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Posted by: Defender -
Oct. 24, 2014 12:35 PM ET USA
The pope also said, "Life imprisonment is a hidden death penalty." In a perfect world, maybe, but the public has a right to be defended from those who could care less about people. I'd rather rely on he thoughts of St. Thomas Aquinas than most other humans, as well.
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Posted by: bernie4871 -
Oct. 24, 2014 12:33 PM ET USA
Let' see now, 1,500,000,000 killed by abortion since 1980, and the Pope takes time to admonish us about the death penalty for murderers. ?
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Posted by: jg23753479 -
Oct. 24, 2014 12:25 PM ET USA
Garedawg: CCC 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." Yes, I know what the 3rd paragraph says, but the pope said "categorically reject capital punishment." That is NOT what the CCC says, and "putting it in an encyclical" doesn't make it more "official".
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Posted by: garedawg -
Oct. 24, 2014 11:37 AM ET USA
Well, good! It's about time. St. Thomas Aquinas is not the magisterium, and "traditional" Catholic teaching is not always complete. I hope he will make it official and put it in an encyclical.
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Posted by: feedback -
Oct. 23, 2014 10:00 PM ET USA
Also, it would be good to hear the Pope's 'absolute condemnation' of legalized abortions. They happen to be much more frequent, much more numerous and widespread than legalized executions.
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Posted by: Erusmas -
Oct. 23, 2014 8:46 PM ET USA
"Another kind of lawful slaying belongs to the civil authorities, to whom is entrusted power of life and death, by the legal and judicious exercise of which they punish the guilty and protect the innocent. The just use of this power, far from involving the crime of murder, is an act of paramount obedience to this Commandment, which prohibits murder." - The Roman Catechism
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Posted by: shrink -
Oct. 23, 2014 8:13 PM ET USA
The problem of the “absolute condemnation of the death penalty” is that the Church itself has never condemned it absolutely. This question has been taken up many times. There is a consistent theological tradition on this. St Thomas argues for its just application. Even JP2 acknowledged that at times it was licit and moral. If a state has the right to send men to war to die, it clearly has the power to condemn one to death for evil deeds.
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Posted by: jg23753479 -
Oct. 23, 2014 7:18 PM ET USA
Absolute condemnation? Where does this leave the traditional Catholic teaching that there are circumstances in which capital punishment is licit? Or is this just one more example of the hyperbole our current pope seems given to?
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Posted by: Minnesota Mary -
Oct. 23, 2014 7:16 PM ET USA
Well, the Bishop of Rome is entitled to his opinion on capital punishment. Amazing how emphatic he can be about denouncing capital punishment, the right of the state to execute, a right that comes from God. Wish he could be as emphatic about abortion and sodomy, which are capital sins.
