Pope Francis changes Catholic Church teaching to say death penalty is 'inadmissible'

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post



By Chico Harlan
August 2 at 7:45 AM

ROME — Pope Francis has changed Catholic Church teaching to fully reject the death penalty, the Vatican announced Thursday, saying it would work to abolish capital punishment worldwide.

The change addresses several lines of the catechism, the compendium of Catholic teaching, but it sharply amplifies the church’s opposition against one of the world’s most debated policy practices.

The church’s updated teaching states that capital punishment is “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”

Previously, the church teaching allowed for the death penalty in very rare cases, only as a means of “defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pope-francis-changes-catholic-church-teaching-to-say-death-penalty-is-inadmissible/2018/08/02/0d69ef5e-9647-11e8-80e1-00e80e1fdf43_story.html

[ck4829]

1. K&R. The death penalty is modern day human sacrifice

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

2. Here is the previous Catholic teaching on capital punishment

From Pope John Paul II's encyclical, Evangelium Vitae -- "The Gospel of Life", section 56. After a discussion of self defense, he says

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 offence." 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 behaviour 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.

In any event, the principle set forth in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church remains valid: 'If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons, public authority must limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.'

To sum this up, capital punishment is not intrinsically immoral, but there are essentially no situations in which it is morally acceptable.

[yallerdawg]

4. "...an adequate punishment for the crime...

as a condition for the offender to regain the exercise of his or her freedom."

This is our ideal - justice and mercy. How we'd like to be treated by others, no matter what we do.

[Chemisse]

3. Good move.

Almost everything this pope does is positive.

[spike jones]

5. But, but the Bible says..

Exodus 21:15 King James Version (KJV)
15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
Exodus 31:15-17 King James Version (KJV)
15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

[mountain grammy]

6. oh wow, American Christians aren't going to like this being pro death and all,

except of course for the unborn. Then they're all about life.

[dalton99a]

8. Of course not:

...

[duhneece]

10. But the Bible says Life begins with breath...

According to the bible, a fetus is not a living person with a soul until after drawing its first breath.

After God formed man in Genesis 2 , He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it was then that the man became a living being”. Although the man was fully formed by God in all respects, he was not a living being until after taking his first breath.

In Job 33:4, it states: “The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

And there’s more, here in Ezekiel 37:5&6, “Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

Modern medicine adjusts that first breath 'test', but still....

[mountain grammy]

12. Right, if you say so.. All Bible verses sound alike to me

but they do seem they say whatever the beholder wants them to say.

[duhneece]

14. In a right-wing, fundamentalist county like mine, it's been super helpful to know some..

rebuttals!

[Scurrilous]

7. K&R

[Democrats_win]

9. Section of Bible near Noah's ark allows death penalty.

Genesis 9:4
4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.

6 “Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind.
----

I'm not necessarily in favor of the death penalty, but there it is in the Bible. Many also note that the Bible has strict requirements for eye-witness accounts involving justice. One also notes that the death penalty has become a political issue rather than just a Biblical issue.

We all understand what's going on with the Pope: it's abortion stupid! The Pope follows "natural law" and doesn't really follow the Bible. Numbers 11 even prescribes abortion under certain circumstances. Bishops will often say that the sanctity of life is the most important thing. But that is most definitely NOT what the Bible says. People, in general, die because they sin. There's the scores of deaths in the passover story. On and on the deaths in the Bible go--proving that the sanctity of life is NOT the most important thing. What IS important is obeying God. Have you seen the black tee-shirts with the world "OBEY" on them? God owns the copyright. (Kidding)

[47of74]

11. Yeah, the Reich to Life folks will be lining right up to support the Pope's position.

Especially those who treated the words of Benedict or JPII as coming directly from God.



I actually think there are a few circumstances where it is warranted. Some types of murder, and some crimes by employees of our various governments - such as treason, electoral fraud, and voter suppression. And government employees would include elected officials and members of the military.

[Ron Obvious]

13. Does this apply to witches too?

I thought we weren't supposed to suffer them to live.

God, I'm all confused now about what to do about the woman who lives down the street from me. She's got a wart and everything and I'm pretty sure she floats too.