The Death Penalty: The Church's Teaching

On Monday, April 30, 2001, The Philadelphia Inquirer carried a front page article outlining differences in world religions' views on capital punishment and noting that often the views of many of the faithful do not reflect the views of their own religious leaders. The Media has also reported that John Paul II asked President Bush to spare Timothy McVeigh's life, but that the President has no intention of trying to grant clemency.

Many Catholics, while respecting Pope John Paul II, favor the death penalty perhaps especially in the case of Timothy McVeigh. Most would agree that the death penalty should not be imposed if there is the slightest doubt that the wrong person was convicted. In the McVeigh case, it seems certain that the right man has been convicted and that he is without remorse yet, knowing that, the Pope is asking that his life be spared.

In this context, I think it is opportune that we take a look at the Church's teaching on this subject, and strive to embrace that teaching more fully.

Approved by His Holiness Pope John Paul II on June 25, 1992 and given "that it may be a sure and authentic reference text for teaching Catholic doctrine."

§ 2267 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"

The Pope's Encyclical Letter to the Bishops Priests and Deacons, Men and Women Religious, Lay Faithful, and All People of Good Will on the Value and Inviolability of Human Life, issued on March 25, 1995.

§56. This is the context in which to place the problem of the death penalty. On this matter there is a growing tendency, both in the Church and in civil society, to demand that it be applied in a very limited way or even that it be abolished completely. The problem must be viewed in the context of a system of penal justice ever more in line with human dignity and thus, in the end, with God's plan for man and society. The primary purpose of the punishment which society inflicts is "to redress the disorder caused by the offense". Public authority must redress the violation of personal and social rights by imposing on the offender an adequate punishment for the crime, as a condition for the offender to regain the exercise of his or her freedom. In this way authority also fulfills the purpose of defending public order and ensuring people's safety, while at the same time offering the offender an incentive and help to change his or her behavior and be rehabilitated.

It is clear that, for these purposes to be achieved, the nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.

The Catholic Bishops of the United States included this as an appendix to their statement Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice issued November 15, 2000.

In these reflections, we bishops have focused on how our faith and teaching can offer a distinctive Catholic perspective on crime and punishment, responsibility and rehabilitation. These reflections do not focus on the death penalty as our primary concern. In this context, however, we wish to renew our call for an end to capital punishment.

The administration of the death penalty is often seen as a major sign of some of the failings within the American criminal justice system. Capital punishment is cruel, unnecessary, and arbitrary; it often has racial overtones; and it fails to live up to our deep conviction that all human life is sacred: "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. The antidote to violence is love, not more violence."

In this call we add our voices to the prophetic witness of Pope John Paul II, who, when he last came to our nation, appealed for an end to capital punishment:

"The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of life in every situation. A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform (cf. Evangelium Vitae, § 27). I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary."

We join our appeal to the position of the universal Church. The promulgated text of the Catechism of the Catholic Church declares,

"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 conformity with the dignity of the human person."
(§ 2267)

And we join with those who are working to end the death penalty in their witness at prisons as people are executed, in state capitals across our land, in courtrooms and prisons around the nation, and in Congress, where efforts to abolish or limit the death penalty are being debated. We support calls for a moratorium on executions and welcome the courage of leaders who have implemented or are working to address the clear failings of the death penalty.

We know this is not an easy matter. Catholic teaching has developed over time and there have been diverse views on the application of these principles. However, as we begin this new millennium, Pope John Paul II, the U.S. Catholic bishops, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church together express the strong conviction that capital punishment should no longer be used since there are better ways to protect society, and the death penalty diminishes respect for human life.

We are encouraged by small but growing signs that support for the death penalty is eroding and that capital punishment is being reconsidered. 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 what Pope John Paul II called a "culture of death," we cannot reverse what we have called a "culture of violence," and we cannot build a "culture of life" by state-sanctioned killing. As we said before and renew today:

"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. With our Holy Father, we seek to build a society so committed to human life that it will not sanction the killing of any human person.

Evangelium Vitae
The complete text of the March 25, 1995 Encyclical The Gospel of Life issued by Pope John Paul II

Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration:
A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice
The complete text of the November 15, 2000 statement of the Catholic Bishops of the United States

A Good Friday Appeal to End the Death Penalty
Issued by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops April 2, 1999.

The Death Penalty: Choose Life
The February, 2001 Statement on Capital Punishment by the Bishops of Pennsylvania

Moratorium on the Death Penalty
Testimony February 22, 2000 on Senate Bill 952 by Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia and Chairman of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference.