NEW VOICES: Pope Francis Calls for Abolition of Death Penalty

Pope Francis called for an end to capital punishment in an address on October 23 to the International Association on Penal Law. “It is impossible to imagine that states today cannot make use of another means than capital punishment to defend peoples’ lives from an unjust aggressor,” the Catholic leader said. He cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which says that the death penalty can be used only if it is the “only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor,” and that modern alternatives for protecting society mean that “cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.” Pope Francis said, “All Christians and people of good will are thus called today to struggle not only for abolition of the death penalty, whether it be legal or illegal and in all its forms, but also to improve prison conditions, out of respect for the human dignity of persons deprived of their liberty.” In discussing a variety of criminal justice issues, he critiqued the tendency to focus solely on punishment, rather than addressing broader social issues.

(F. Rocca, “Pope Francis calls for abolishing death penalty and life imprisonment,” Catholic News Service, October 23, 2014; Photo credit: CNS/Paul Haring.) See New Voices and Religion.