For many years, the Catholic Church has been one of the most vocal groups worldwide, and especially in the United States, calling for an end to capital punishment. As Catholics, we see this call as an intrinsic element of the belief in the dignity of all human life. Quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church says, “‘modern society in fact has the means of effectively suppressing crime by rendering criminals harmless’…The growing number of countries adopting provisions to abolish the death penalty or suspend its application is also proof of the fact that cases in which it is absolutely necessary to execute the offender ‘are very rare, if not practically non-existent.’” In their document Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics, the U.S. Bishops say, “Our witness to respect for life shines most brightly when we demand respect for each and every human life, including the lives of those who fail to show that respect for others. The antidote to violence is love, not more violence.”
On Monday of this week, the American Bar Association (ABA) called for a moratorium on the death penalty in the United States after releasing a study that found major problems in the death penalty systems in this country, including racial desparities, inadequate resources for defense attorneys, and unfair appeals processes - see the ABA website for a detailed report. In the words of one ABA official, proper punishment can only distributed if justice is ensured, and in the case of many death penalty cases in this country, there is no guarantee that justice and due process are being followed.
On the one hand, this call for a moratorium on the death penalty is good news for those who oppose this form of unreversable punishment. However, the reasons for not executing criminals in the view of the Catholic Church move beyond those given by the ABA, being based first of all on the instrinsic value of each human life and the possibility of redemption, rather than on faulty legal practices (which are also of high importance). This announcement is an important step in the capital punishment debate in this country, but it must be set alongside a faith-based view of human life.
For a good presentation on the Catholic teaching on capital punishment, visit the U.S. Bishop's Death Penalty Page.
2 comments:
Of course the Church has good reason to oppose capital punishment since Jesus was one of those unjustly killed by the state. We must always remember that we do not have the right to destroy what God created. The justice we seek will come at His hand.
All life is sacred from conception to natural death. People on death row should be given the opportunity to repent because eternity is forever. God is the just judge, not man.
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