MyCatholicSource.com - 'Quick Help' Page: Should The Death Penalty Be Abolished? Is It Wrong To Support Capital Punishment?

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Despite recent protestations of some (even high/highest ranking) members of the Church, licit use of capital punishment cannot be inherently wrong. That's not to say that its use in any given case is acceptable. Clearly the punishment must only be administered to truly guilty persons for crimes deserving of such a punishment by those who have the proper authority to execute such an act.

As traditionally taught...

"Another kind of lawful slaying belongs to the civil authorities, to whom is entrusted power of life and death, by the legal and judicious exercise of which they punish the guilty and protect the innocent. The just use of this power, far from involving the crime of murder, is an act of paramount obedience to this [Fifth] Commandment which prohibits murder. The end of the [Fifth] Commandment is the preservation and security of human life. Now the punishments inflicted by the civil authority, which is the legitimate avenger of crime, naturally tend to this end, since they give security to life by repressing outrage and violence. Hence these words of David: In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land, that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

Yet some have caused scandal in the Church in recent times by asserting that all use of the death penalty is now unacceptable. Besides the fact that capital punishment is not condemned in Scripture – and may even be prescribed – the Church does not have the power to change her perennial teachings. In fact, such novelties may be considered abuses of authority. As Bishop Athanasius Schneider stated...

"Certainly the pope has no right to change a teaching that is based on sources of divine revelation, the teaching that is present in Scripture itself, both the Old and the New Testaments, and that has been handed down for two thousand years in the Church. This is a revolution and a rupture. Introducing such a change exceeds the limits of papal authority. The First Vatican Council, which defined the doctrine of papal infallibility, declared that the Holy Spirit has not been given to the pope to introduce new teachings or to institute them, but to faithfully guard the deposit of divine revelation. A change in the stance on the permissibility of the death penalty is an abuse of papal authority. Let me repeat, the pope doesn't have the power to change the permanent doctrine of the Church. He has no such authority."

It is good to recall that the Pope is tasked with faithfully preserving what has been handed on from the beginning, NOT to make changes. [Note: For more on this topic, try here.]

Furthermore, many of the arguments presented as reasons to abolish the death penalty are flawed. For example, it's simply not true that there is a 'surefire' way of protecting people from violent criminals in modern times. Escapes from jail/prison can – and do – happen.

It also seems as though some persons in power may be wrongfully overlooking / disregarding some benefits of capital punishment in their alignment with 'leftist values'. For example, consider this quote from our 8/09 News Brief "Author questions JPII approach to the death penalty"...

"Today's often-held view that the death penalty is 'cruel' seems to overlook the fact that death penalty may (1) satisfy the demands of justice, (2) deter future crime, (3) give the guilty party an opportunity to repent (unlike his victims, if he is a murderer), (4) give the guilty party the opportunity to make due satisfaction to God for his crime, and (5) on a purely material level, spare hard-working people the heavy financial burden of constant surveillance and care for murderers & other serious criminals (some of whom would admit they'd continue to commit crimes if given the opportunity). And, of course, the death penalty protects society from the danger that a criminal may escape confinement and repeat his crime. It also makes it more concrete that serious consequences will result for serious crimes - a good lesson in light of the fact that there are serious eternal consequences for serious unrepented sin. In sum, the death penalty may help both society and the criminal."

The above news brief also notes Cardinal Ratzinger's (the future Pope Benedict XVI's) statement that...

"There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty..."

So given the above facts, it cannot be inherently wrong to support capital punishment in a general sense (provided, of course, it is used against truly guilty persons for crimes deserving of such a punishment by those who have the proper authority to execute such an act).

And even in cases where the death penalty is warranted, in addition to praying for the criminals' victims & their families, we might in charity also pray that those deserving of the death penalty repent of their evil actions before it is too late. Despite the commission of terrible crimes, remember that Christ nevertheless shed His Precious Blood to save them.

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