Pope’s opposition to death penalty written into Church teachings

Pope Francis has changed Catholic Church teaching about the death penalty, saying in a new policy it was always “inadmissible” because it “attacks” the inherent dignity of all humans.

The Vatican said Francis had approved a change to the Catechism of the Catholic Church – the compilation of official Catholic teaching.

Previously the catechism said the church did not exclude recourse to capital punishment “if this is the only possible way of effectively defendinghumanlivesagainst the unjust aggressor”.

The new teaching, contained in Catechism No.2,267, says the previous policy is outdated, there are other ways to protect the common good and the church should instead commit itself to working to end capital punishment. The new text, which was published yesterday, reads: “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.”

The death penalty has been abolished in most of Europe and South America, but is still in use in the United States and in several countries in Asia, Africa and the Middleeast.

In addition, just this week Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could move to reinstate the death penalty, which it had abolished in 2004 as part of its bid to join the European Union.

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. Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said: “If, in fact, the political and social situation of the past made the death penalty an acceptable means for the protection of the common good, today the increasing understanding that the dignity of a person is not lost even after committing the most serious crimes.”

Cardinal Ladaria 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”.

Francis has long railed against the death penalty, insisting it could never be justified no matter how heinous the crime. He has also long made prison ministry a mainstay of his vocation.