Capital Punishment
Can we ...should we?
Catholic teaching offers a unique perspective on crime and punishment.
It begins with the recognition that the dignity of the human person applies to both victims and offenders. It affirms our commitment to comfort and support victims and their families, while acknowledging the God-given dignity of every human life, even those who do great harm.
Catholic teaching on human life begins with the belief that life is a gift from God and this is not for us to take away. As it is applied to the death penalty, this teaching is both complicated and clear. The Church has long acknowledged the right of the state to use the death penalty in order to protect society.
However, the Church has more and more clearly insisted the state should forgo this right if it has other means to protect society.
Pope John Paul II, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Vatican Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, and statements from U.S. bishops are all clear and consistent that the use of the death penalty ought to be abandoned in our nation.
As part of the Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty, the U.S. Bishops are asking people to faith to: |
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Pray for victims of crime and their families, those who have been wrongly convicted, and those awaiting execution. |
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Learn about Catholic social teaching, U.S. criminal justice policies, and the policies in your state. |
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Advocate in opposition of the use of Capital Punishment by contacting your elected officials. |
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Criminal Justice
"Our criminal justice system should punish offenders and, when necessary, imprison them to protect society. Their incarceration, however, should be about more than punishment. Since nearly all inmates will return to society, jails and prisons must be places where offenders are challenged, encouraged, and rewarded for efforts to change their behaviors and attitudes, and where they learn the skills needed for employment and life in community. We call upon government to redirect the vast amount of public resources away from building more and more prisons and toward better and more effective programs aimed at crime prevention, rehabilitation, education efforts, substance abuse treatment, and programs of probation, parole and reintegration."
US Catholic Bishops, "Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice," 2000
