church teachings on death penalty

8/10/2019 Church Teachings on Death Penalty

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Evangelium Vitae (John Paul II)

No effort should be spared to eliminate legalized crime or at least to limit the damage causedby these laws, but with the vivid awareness of the radical duty to respect every human being'sright to life from conception until natural death , including the life of the lowliest and the least

gifted. should never come to " the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute

necessity, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society ".It likewise points outthat "today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penalsystem, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent " (death penalty is allowed ifand only if the offender poses great threat to the society that the government can no longer

provide protection. However this case is described as very rare so imposition of capital

punishment is of no need. Church is still against but with exceptions)

Following the publication of the evangelium vitae, the matter was taken in Fifth Session of the

UN Commission for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. As a final compromise, theresolution, as adopted, " takes note with appreciation of the continuing process towardsworldwide abolition of the death penalty ". On the other hand, the proposal of a abolishmenton capital punishment , presented to the General Assembly in November 1999, was postponedin the face of strong opposition from many countries .

Spiritual decay has also become a characteristic of the post-communist countries. The followingfactors are an evidence: death penalties, crimes all of these actions are the denial of life'ssaintliness and untouchability. The spiritual decay is confirmed by the fact that people nolonger care so much for their life. The distorted concept of liberty by thinking that everything

is allowed

culture of death - a secularized vision of freedom to act subjectively according to ephemeralmodels like pleasure and fleeting happiness, rather than adhering to values such as theobjective truth and real happiness. Ethical relativism is derived from this secularized vision.

Pope Francis

opposes death penalty because it neglects human dignity.


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CCC

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENYou shall not kill. 5 You have heard that it was said to themen of old, "You shall not kill: and whoever kills shall b liable to judgment." But I say toyou that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment. 55

Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and

holy God.

God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under anycircumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being .

The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibitionagainst the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing . "The act of self-defense can have a double effect : the preservation of one's own life; and the killing ofthe aggressor. . . . The one is intended, the other is not

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 unjustaggressor.\ If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people'ssafety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means , as these are morein keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity tothe dignity of the human person.

Those who renounce violence and bloodshed and, in order to safeguard human right s,make use of those means of defense available to the weakest, bear witness toevangelical charity, provided they do so without harming the rights and obligations ofother men and societies. They bear legitimate witness to the gravity of the physical andmoral risks of recourse to violence, with all its destruction and death


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Bible

The Old Testament Law prescribed the death penalty for an extensive list of crimesincluding:

Murder (Exodus 21:12-14; Leviticus 24:17 ,21) Attacking or cursing a parent (Exodus 21:15 ,17) Disobedience to parents (Deuteronomy 21:18-21) Kidnapping (Exodus 21:16) Failure to confine a dangerous animal, resulting in death (Exodus 21:28-29) Witchcraft and sorcery (Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 20:27, Deuteronomy 13:5, 1 Samuel

28:9) Human sacrifice (Leviticus 20:2-5) Sex with an animal (Exodus 22:19, Leviticus 20:16) Doing work on the Sabbath (Exodus 31:14, 35:2, Numbers 15:32-36) Incest (Leviticus 18:6-18, 20:11-12 ,14 ,17 ,19-21) Adultery (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22) Homosexual acts (Leviticus 20:13) Prostitution by a priest's daughter (Leviticus 21:9) Blasphemy (Leviticus 24:14 ,16, 23) False prophecy (Deuteronomy 18:20) Perjury in capital cases (Deuteronomy 19:16-19) Refusing to obey a decision of a judge or priest (Deuteronomy 17:12) False claim of a woman's virginity at time of marriage (Deuteronomy 22:13-21) Sex between a woman pledged to be married and a man other than her betrothed

(Deuteronomy 22:23-24)

The New Testament Jesus said His mission was not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matthew

5:17-20) . However, He and His apostles greatly modified our understanding of God'sintentions.

Love is the principle that must guide all our actions (Matthew 5:43-48, Mark12:28-34, Luke 10:25-28, Romans 13:9-10, Galatians 5:14) . Christians are boundby Jesus' commands to "Love the Lord your God" and "Love your neighbor asyourself " (Matthew 22:34-40) .

We are no longer bound by the harsh Old Testament Law (John 1:16-17, Romans 8:1-3, 1 Corinthians 9:20-21) .
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Jesus flatly rejected the Old Testament principle of taking equal revenge for awrong done (Matthew 5:38-41, Luke 9:52-56) . He also said that we are allsinners and do not have the right to pass judgment on one another (Matthew7:1-5

EXAMPLE:

o ). In the case of a woman caught in adultery (a capital offense), Jesus said to thosewho wanted to stone her to death,"Let anyone among you who is without sin be thefirst to throw a stone at her." ( John 8:7-11)

o The apostle Paul also warned against taking revenge for a wrong done (Romans12:17-21, 1 Thessalonians 5:15) . Likewise, the apostle Peter warned us not to repayevil with evil (1 Peter 3:9) .
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church teachings on death penalty

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