Article 1 - The Death Penalty - Food for Thought The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty. Exceptions were made in the past that did allow for the death penalty. How did this change come about?
The Catholic Church teaches “every life is a precious gift from God (Gen 2:7, 21-23). We are created in God’s image and redeemed by Jesus Christ. When St. John Paul II presents the story of Cain and Able in “The Voice of Your Brother’s Blood Cries to Me from the Ground” (Gen 4:10), he reminds us that God did not take Cain’s life as punishment but spared him. Cain is punished as he had to live out the rest of his earthly life alone as an outcast reflecting on his crime. God promised Cain that if anyone would kill him, God himself would avenge his death seven times (Gen 4:15). St. John Paul II states “even a murderer does not lose his personal dignity. Killing is wrong and should be responded to with mercy and justice, not more killing.” In 2005, the Catholic bishops of the United States issued, A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death, in which they acknowledge that sentences such as “life in prison without parole” provides a non-lethal alternative (to the death penalty) and called for an end to the use of the death penalty in the United States. “If non-lethal means of punishment are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means: CCC, 2267 (Catechism of the Catholic Church). Consider: Am I willing to be challenged by the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding the Death Penalty? Submitted by Libby Long Questions? Interested in joining the Peace and Justice Ministry? Call me – 314-420-7195
Information obtained from: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops www.usccb.org/deathpenalty The Catechism of the Catholic Church