Capital Punishment
The United States is the only Western industrialized nation today that uses capital punishment. Increasingly the bishops have spoken out against its use. Pope John Paul II and individual bishops have sought clemency for persons scheduled to be executed. There are compelling reasons for opposing capital punishment: its sheer inhumanity and its absolute finality are two. There is also concern about its inequitable use and an imperfect legal system that has sentenced innocent people to death.
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, “If...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” (#2267).
Executing the guilty does not honor one who was killed, nor does it ennoble the living or even lessen their pain, for only love and forgiveness can do that. State-sanctioned killing affects us all because it diminishes the value we place on all human life. Capital punishment also cuts short the guilty person’s opportunity for spiritual conversion and repentance.
The consequences of widespread loss of respect for the dignity of human life are seen in pervasive violence, toleration of abortion and increasingly vocal support for assisted suicide and research that destroys human embryos. All of these make it all the more urgent to reject lethal punishment and uphold the inviolability of every human life.
“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” (Living the Gospel of Life, #22). Thus we are called to extend God’s love to all human beings created in his image, including those convicted of serious crimes. In so doing, we can help to make “unconditional respect for life the foundation of a new society” (The Gospel of Life, #77).
We renew our call for the Catholic community to be what the Holy Father asks us to be: a people of life and a people for life (The Gospel of Life, #78). Key to the success of this pastoral plan is the work of informed and committed laypeople throughout the nation. Together we are involved in God’s work in promoting the dignity of the human person.
This pastoral plan calls upon all the resources of the Church—its people, services and institutions—to pursue this effort with renewed energy and commitment. We are called to give more attention in four major areas:
I Public Information and Education to deepen understanding of the sanctity of human life and the humanity of unborn children, the moral evil of intentionally killing innocent human beings—whether at the beginning of life or at its end—and the mission of the Church to witness to and serve all human life.
II Pastoral Care for women with problems related to pregnancy; for all who have been involved in abortion; for those who are disabled, sick and dying, and their families and caregivers; for those who have lost loved ones to violent crime; and for those in prison sentenced to death.
III Public Policy efforts directed to restoring legal protection to the lives of unborn children and those vulnerable to pressures to end their lives by assisted suicide, and to providing morally acceptable alternatives to abortion and assisted suicide.
IV Prayer and Worship directed to participation in the sacramental life of the Church and in programs of communal and individual prayer, that the culture of death that surrounds us today will be replaced by a culture of life and love.
In our present social context, marked by a dramatic struggle between the "culture of life" and the "culture of death," there is need to develop a deep critical sense, capable of discerning true values and authentic needs.
What is urgently called for is a general mobilization of consciences and a united ethical effort to activate a great campaign in support of life. All together, we must build a new culture of life.
—Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, #95
This document is adapted from Living the Gospel of LIfe: A Challenge to American Catholics, copyright 1998, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Provided by Catholic News Service.