UK bishop welcomes global decline in executions
April 19, 2017
The number of executions worldwide declined from 1,634 in 2015 to 1,032 in 2016—a development welcomed by Bishop Declan Lang, the English bishops’ lead bishop for international affairs.
“It is extremely welcome that worldwide use of the death penalty has decreased so significantly,” he said. “However, there is still much more progress to be made. More than 1,000 people were executed last year—they are not just statistics.”
“Every execution is a violation of the innate dignity of the human person and we must continue to heed Pope Francis’ call to work for complete global abolition,” he added. “I am encouraged by the UK government’s continued opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances.”
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