How does the death penalty connect to CATHOLIC Social Teaching?
- The church has always held that every life is sacred no matter what. Each life was created in the image and likeness of God, and He intends for all human beings to treat each other with the respect and honor that He gave humans at creation. The author then goes into detail on how the church has never punished their own. When Cain killed Abel, God did not kill Cain, instead, he sent him into exile for him to live out the rest of his life. God did this because every human being has the opportunity for redemption. The opening chapters of the Book of Genesis teach that every life is a precious gift from God. This gift of life must be respected and protected. Christians need to think of the moral standards they are held to and how each of them is called to respect the life and dignity of every human being. Even when people deny the dignity of others, we must still recognize that their dignity is a gift from God and is not something that is earned or lost through behavior.
- The church has specific rules and teachings that should never be broken; murder and killing are two such rules. “Thou Shall Not Kill” is the fifth commandment which makes the taking of a life a serious offense. This is one of those mortal sins that turns people away from God.
-The death penalty violates the Principal of Life and Dignity of the Human Person because it disregards the condemned person's dignity and the value of his or her life. This principal calls for all life to be respected at every stage, including the lives of criminals on death row.
- The Church’s official teaching on the death penalty according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church is that it is not ruled out as an option for punishing a grave crime, but may be used only if there is no other possible method of protecting the public from the aggressor. If the aggressor may be kept from jeopardizing the public’s safety through non-lethal means, these must be used and the guilty party’s life spared whenever possible. Today, the necessity of the death penalty is very rare if not non-existent.
To read the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the death penalty, visit http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a5.htm and look under Legitimate Defense, paragraph 2267.
- The church has specific rules and teachings that should never be broken; murder and killing are two such rules. “Thou Shall Not Kill” is the fifth commandment which makes the taking of a life a serious offense. This is one of those mortal sins that turns people away from God.
-The death penalty violates the Principal of Life and Dignity of the Human Person because it disregards the condemned person's dignity and the value of his or her life. This principal calls for all life to be respected at every stage, including the lives of criminals on death row.
- The Church’s official teaching on the death penalty according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church is that it is not ruled out as an option for punishing a grave crime, but may be used only if there is no other possible method of protecting the public from the aggressor. If the aggressor may be kept from jeopardizing the public’s safety through non-lethal means, these must be used and the guilty party’s life spared whenever possible. Today, the necessity of the death penalty is very rare if not non-existent.
To read the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the death penalty, visit http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a5.htm and look under Legitimate Defense, paragraph 2267.