Pope Changes Teachings to Oppose Death Penalty In All Cases

The Roman Catholic Church has formally changed its teaching to declare the death penalty inadmissible in all circumstances.

The 1.2 billion-member Catholic Church has allowed the death penalty in extreme cases for centuries, but the position began to change under the late Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005.

The Vatican said it had changed its universal catechism, a summary of Church teaching, to reflect Pope Francis’ total opposition to capital punishment.

New teaching

The new teaching says the previous policy is outdated, that there are other ways to protect the common good and the church should instead commit itself to working to end capital punishment.

“The church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide,” reads the new text, which was approved in May but only published on Thursday.

New provision

The new provision is expected to run into stiff opposition from Catholics in countries such as the United States, where many Catholics support the death penalty.

The change was enacted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the body responsible for promulgating and defending Catholic doctrine. The death penalty has been abolished in most of Europe and South America, but it is still in use in the United States and in several countries in Asia, Africa and the Mideast.

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

Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the new change aimed to “give energy” to the anti-death penalty movement “and, in respectful dialogue with civil authorities, to encourage the creation of conditions that allow for the elimination of the death penalty where it is still in effect.”