Bulletin Inserts: Death Penalty

“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. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm—without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself—the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically non-existent.” Catechism of the Catholic Church, point no. 2267

* * *

“For us, ending the use of the death penalty is not simply about politics, it is about our faith. We believe human life is a gift from God that is not ours to take away. Our faith commits us to the life and dignity of every human person – first the victims of violent crimes and their families, who deserve our help and protection. For us this is not about ideology, but respect for life. ….We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing. We cannot defend life by taking life. In his encyclical The Gospel of Life, the Holy Father (Pope John Paul II) challenges followers of Christ to be “unconditionally pro life.” He reminds us that “the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil.” Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, March 2005

* * *

“As Catholics, we are committed to promoting a consistent ethic of life and upholding the dignity of life from conception until natural death. We emphatically oppose a culture of death. We cannot promote the “illusion that we can protect life by taking life.” Why did we bishops speak out so publicly in opposition to the death penalty? Let me tell you why. The sanction of death, when it is not necessary to protect society, violates respect for life and dignity.” Archboshop John Vlazny, August 2009 

* * * 

On Capital Punishment
“Killing the guilty is still the wrong choice for a civilized nation. Why? It accomplishes nothing. It does not bring back or even honor the dead. It does not ennoble the living. And while it may satisfy society's anger for awhile, it cannot even release the murder victim's loved ones from their sorrow. Only forgiveness can do that. What the death penalty does achieve is closure through bloodletting and violence against violence—which is not really closure at all, because murder will continue as long as humans sin, and capital punishment can never, by its nature, strike at murder's root. Only love can do that.” Justice, Mercy and Capital Punishment by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. (Archbishop of Denver) 

* * * 

Justice Without Vengeance
“People are asking if we are really safer in states where executions are so regular that they hardly rate news coverage. People are asking whether we can be sure that those who are executed are truly guilty, given the evidence of wrongful convictions and poor representation in death penalty cases. We welcome legislation to address these issues as a way to focus on the unfairness of the death penalty. But most of all, we are asking whether we can teach that killing is wrong by killing those who have been convicted of killing others. It is time to abandon the death penalty—not just because of what it does to those who are executed, but because of how it diminishes all of us.… We cannot overcome crime by simply executing criminals, nor can we restore the lives of the innocent by ending the lives of those convicted of their murders. The death penalty offers the tragic illusion that we can defend life by taking life. We ask all Catholics—pastors, catechists, educators, and parishioners—to join us in rethinking this difficult issue and committing ourselves to pursuing justice without vengeance”- Source: Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice, USCCB, November 2000

* * * 

Divine Mercy and The Death Penalty
“Prior to his intervention [in the death sentence of Darrell Mease] in St. Louis, Pope John Paul had laid out his case for the limitation of the use of the death penalty in his encyclical The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae) (1995) and in his extraordinary 1997 modification of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). He still allowed for the application of the death penalty as a just choice that authority may make in its responsibility to safeguard society from the unjust aggressor. Yet the revised text goes on to say: "Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity ‘are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.’"2 The sworn responsibility of authority to secure the common good is not easily laid aside. But here the Church, convinced that society can be protected without executing dangerous criminals, charges us to look to a less violent, less final remedy. The Catechism directs us to a solution that preserves the common good without definitively curtailing the individual good of the perpetrator, offering him the opportunity for redemption. Each man, no matter how sinful and flawed, has a final purpose and call to salvation, one that we ought not too easily or unnecessarily preempt.”

USCCB - http://www.usccb.org/prolife/

CCC - http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/

* * * 

As the 2010 edition of Respect Life Month drew to a close, the issue of capital punishment was once again in the world spotlight as the Vatican called on Iraq not to execute former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.

It might not be easy to advocate for the life of a convicted murderer or for someone like Aziz, sentenced to death by hanging for persecuting Shiite Muslims, but it is important to the pro-life cause, said Deirdre A. McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications in the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. "It demeans our culture to use violence to answer violence, and it can only further undermine respect for innocent life," said McQuade. "If the state can protect us without committing additional violence, that is the way we are called to go." Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., made that same point, linking the death penalty issue to the Catholic belief in divine mercy.

"God did not abolish justice. Rather, he intended by the offering of his Son to purge human justice of any sense of wrath or revenge," he wrote. "As we seek a reason to put aside the practice of the death penalty, perhaps the best motive is our desire to imitate God in his mercy toward those for whom Jesus died."
So, for Catholics, the central reason for opposing the death penalty does not have to do with the possibility of killing an innocent person, the deterrence factor or the economic costs of capital punishment. Instead, it is related to respect for the dignity of human life and divine mercy. Those who believe in Christ "never see anyone as irredeemably wicked," McQuade said. "God's mercy extends to all of us." The U.S. bishops, who have been advocating against capital punishment for more than 25 years, began an ongoing Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty in 2005.

~ excerpts from: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1004460.htm

* * *