An extract from the Pope's letter to the International Commission against the Death Penalty.
Vatican City, 20 March 2015 (VIS)- This morning the Holy Father
received in audience a delegation from the International Commission
against the Death Penalty. Below we offer extensive extracts from the
letter the Pope gave to Federico Mayor, president of the Commission, to
greet and offer his personal thanks to all the members of the
aforementioned International Commission, the group of countries that
lend their support, and all those who collaborate in its work.
“I
would like to take this opportunity to share with you some reflections
on what the Church contributes to the humanistic efforts of the
Commission. The Church's Magisterium, based on the Sacred Scripture and
the thousand-year experience of the People of God, defends life from
conception to natural end, and supports full human dignity inasmuch as
it represents the image of God. Human life is sacred as, from its
beginning, from the first instant of conception, it is the fruit of
God's creating action."
“States kill when they apply the death
penalty, when they send their people to war or when they carry out
extrajudicial or summary executions. They can also kill by omission,
when they fail to guarantee to their people access to the bare
essentials for life. … On some occasions it is necessary to repel an
ongoing assault proportionately to avoid damage caused by the aggressor,
and the need to neutralise him could lead to his elimination; this is a
case of legitimate defence. However, the presuppositions of personal
legitimate defence do not apply at the social level, without risk of
misinterpretation. When the death penalty is applied, it is not for a
current act of aggression, but rather for an act committed in the past.
It is also applied to persons whose current ability to cause harm is not
current, as it has been neutralised – they are already deprived of
their liberty."
“Nowadays the death penalty is inadmissible, no
matter how serious the crime committed. It is an offence against the
inviolability of life and the dignity of the human person, which
contradicts God's plan for man and society, and his merciful justice,
and impedes the penalty from fulfilling any just objective. It does not
render justice to the victims, but rather fosters vengeance."
“For
the rule of law, the death penalty represents a failure, as it obliges
the state to kill in the name of justice. … Justice can never be wrought
by killing a human being. … With the application of the death penalty,
the convict is denied the possibility of to repent or make amends for
the harm caused; the possibility of confession, by which a man expresses
his inner conversion, and contrition, the gateway to atonement and
expiation, to reach an encounter with God's merciful and healing
justice. It is furthermore frequently used by totalitarian regimes and
groups of fanatics for the extermination of political dissidents,
minorities, and any subject labelled as 'dangerous' or who may be
perceived as a threat to its power or to the achievement of its ends".
“The
death penalty is contrary to the sentiment of humanitas and to divine
mercy, which must be the model for human justice. … There is discussion
in some quarters about the method of killing, as if it were possible to
find ways of 'getting it right'. … But there is no humane way of killing
another person."
“On the other hand, life imprisonment entails
for the prisoner the impossibility of planning a future of freedom, and
may therefore be considered as a sort of covert death penalty, as they
deprive detainees not only of their freedom, but also of hope. However,
although the penal system can stake a claim to the time of convicted
persons, it can never claim their hope".
“Dear friends, I
encourage you to continue with your work, as the world needs witnesses
of God's mercy and tenderness, and may the Lord Jesus grant the gift of
wisdom, so that the action taken against this cruel punishment may be
successful and fruitful."
(http://opusdei.org.in/en-in/)
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