In an address at the Vatican on February 21, Pope Francis (pic­tured) broad­ened his call for a glob­al end to cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment and urged Catholic lead­ers around the world to take action to halt all exe­cu­tions dur­ing the Church’s ongo­ing ​“Holy Year of Mercy.” The pon­tif­f’s address was a pre­lude to a two-day inter­na­tion­al con­fer­ence, ​“A World Without the Death Penalty,” host­ed in Rome by the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Catholic orga­ni­za­tion that oppos­es cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. Francis said, ​“The com­mand­ment ​‘You shall not kill’ has absolute val­ue, and cov­ers both the inno­cent and the guilty. … [E]ven the crim­i­nal keeps the invi­o­lable right to life, a gift from God.” The Pope linked his call to action to the Holy Year of Mercy, which began on December 8, 2015, and encour­ages Catholics to show mer­cy in every aspect of their lives. ​“I appeal to the con­science of the rulers, so that we achieve an inter­na­tion­al con­sen­sus for the abo­li­tion of the death penal­ty,” Francis said. ​“And I pro­pose to those among them who are Catholics to make a coura­geous and exem­plary ges­ture that no sen­tence is exe­cut­ed in this Holy Year of Mercy.” Pope Francis has pre­vi­ous­ly urged world lead­ers to end the death penal­ty, includ­ing a strong state­ment in his address to a joint ses­sion of the U.S. Congress in 2015. Prior pon­tif­fs have also expressed the Catholic Church’s oppo­si­tion to cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. In 2000, Pope John Paul II advo­cat­ed world­wide abo­li­tion of the death penal­ty, which he called ​“an unworthy punishment.”

(I. San Martín, ​“The pope wants a death penal­ty ban dur­ing his year of mer­cy,” Crux, February 21, 2016.) See Religion.

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