Catholic Church Changes Doctrine To Oppose Death Penalty

Furthermore, in a modern “state of law, the death penalty represents a failure” because it obliges the state to kill in the name of justice, the pope had written. We aren’t free to say, “I have zero responsibility to help the poor – they deserve everything they get”, or “Devotion to Our Lady is a waste of time”.

Will pope’s proclamation shift opinions on…

On Thursday, she said: “It’s a happy day, I’m clicking my heels”.

“The Catechism is not equating capital punishment with the evils of abortion and euthanasia”, he said.

“Pope Francis has changed the official stance of the Catholic Church to oppose the death penalty under all circumstances”.

Some on social media questioned the timing of the announcement, given that the Vatican and the Catholic Church are under extraordinary fire over clerical sex abuse and how bishops around the world covered it up for decades.

The Catholic Church’s teaching on the death penalty has slowly evolved since the time of Pope John Paul II, who served from 1978 to 2005.

Bishop DeWane said the catechism revision is consistent with statements of Pope Francis’ teaching on the death penalty, including his 2015 address to the U.S. Congress, as well as the statements of his predecessors.

Of Scalia, Cupich said: “I think that his understanding of salvation has great limitations”. Half the judges on the Supreme Court and 18 state governors are Catholic.

Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo abolished capital punishment in June 2006 when she signed Republic Act 9346, also known as An Act Prohibiting the Imposition of the Death Penalty in the Philippines.

Sergio D’Elia, the secretary of Hands Off Cain, an association that works to abolish capital punishment worldwide, said, “Now even the most far-flung parish priest will teach this to young children”. Dianne Feinstein famously said, “The dogma lives loudly within you”.

In an accompanying letter explaining the change, Cardinal Ladaria, head of the Vatican’s doctrine, said the development of Catholic doctrine on capital punishment did not contradict prior teaching but rather was an evolution of it.

Historically, the Church has mostly been unopposed to the death penalty, including into the 20th Century. To those finding it harder to stay calm, maybe it’s worth reflecting on the testimony of Catholics who have contemplated history most deeply. Several prominent legal and political figures did not respond immediately for comment.

For the ninth year running, the United States was the only country to carry out executions in the Americas region, Amnesty International said.

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, whose state overwhelmingly supports capital punishment according to polls, told journalists in 2014 that there’s no conflict between his Catholic faith and state law on the issue.

The attitudes of Catholics mirror those of the nation, with 53 percent favoring the death penalty.

The Church was working “with determination” for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide, the new teaching said. “Also, protecting society”, the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Abbott and Ricketts’ offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Francis has always been an opponent of the death penalty, saying it could never be justified no matter how bad the crime is.

It also argues that today’s more effective detention methods protect citizens and “do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption”.

In an exclusive interview with ABC7 Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich has weighed in on a major change in Catholic teaching after Pope Francis said the death penalty is never acceptable.

After a contentious and emotional battle across this deep-red state, voters restored the death penalty in 2016.