Pope Francis on death penalty – Philippine Star

The use of capital punishment, is one of the most controversial issue in the criminal justice system all over the world. On December 1, 2016, the United Nations released a report on use of capital punishment among the 195 members of the UN.

The UN report states the following:

54 countries retain the death penalty in law and practice;

32 countries have abolished the death penalty de facto, namely according to Amnesty International, they have not executed anyone during the last 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions;

6 countries have abolished the death penalty but retain it for exceptional or special circumstances such as crimes committed during wartime;

103 countries have abolished it for all crimes.

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Among the developed countries of the world, four countries continue to have capital punishment United States, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. China is the worlds most active death penalty country. The UN report states that there were more than 1,000 executions in China in 2014. Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran have also very high numbers of executions.

Europe has the strongest position against the death penalty. The abolition of the death penalty is a pre condition to joining the European Union. The number of countries abolishing the death penalty have increased in the last decade. The latest countries to abolish the death penalty were Latvia (2012), Madagascar (2012), Fiji (2015), Suriname ( 2015), Republic of the Congo (2015), Nauru (2016) Guinea (2016) and Mongolia (2016). South Korea has declared a moratorium on the death penalty.

The Philippines abolished the death penalty in 2006. However, the government has now introduced a bill in Congress that will restore the death penalty.

Pope Francis has been calling for a worldwide abolition of the death penalty. He said: I appeal to the consciences of those who govern to reach an international consensus to abolish the death penalty.. The commandment Thou shalt not kill has absolute value and applies to both the innocent and the guilty.

In an address a year ago, Pope Francis said that there was now a growing opposition to the death penalty even for the legitimate defense of society because there now exists other ways to efficiently repress crimes without definitively denying the person who committed it the possibility of rehabilitating themselves.

In a visit to a prison in Mexico, Pope Francis also called for better prison conditions saying: All Christians and men of good will are called on to work not only for the abolition of the death penalty, but also to improve prison conditions so that they respect the human dignity of people who have been deprived of their freedom.

In another address to the world conference against the death penalty in Oslo, Norway, Pope Francis again said: Indeed, nowadays the death penalty is unacceptable however, grave the crime of the convicted person. It is an offense to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human person; it likewise contradicts Gods plan for individuals and society, and is merciful justice...It does not render justice to victims, but instead fosters vengeance.

It is clear that Pope Francis believes there is no moral justification in Catholic teaching that would justify capital punishment. This active opposition to the death penalty is actually a recent development in Church teaching that seems to have begun only half a century ago from the time of Pope John XXIII.

The growing movement in the Catholic world to abolish the death penalty took a major step in January 1999, when St. John Paul II publicly appealed for a global consensus to end the death penalty because he believed it was both cruel and unnecessary. His successor, Pope Benedict XVI made a similar appeal in November 2011. However, Pope Francis has made the strongest argument for abolishing capital punishment based on convictions of faith.

In his address to the US Congress on September 14, 2014 he quoted the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you..this rule points us in a clear direction...[it] reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.

He also told the members of the US Congress that ...this conviction has led me from the beginning of my ministry to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes.

The International Commission Against Death Penalty believe that the risk of executing innocent people will always exist no matter how developed a justice system is. It then states that unlike prison sentences, the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable. The Commission also argues that the arbitrary application of the death penalty cannot be ruled and will be used in a disproportionate manner against the poor and favour the rich who can afford to hire the best and most expensive lawyers. There is the argument that the death penalty does not deter crime effectively. According to a recent United Nations report ...there is no conclusive evidence of the deterrent value of the death penalty.

Pope Francis clearly believes that that punishment should never rule out any hope for rehabilitation. He said: ...I also offer encouragement to all those who are convinced that a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation.

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Pope Francis on death penalty - Philippine Star