My article published in 2015 in the Herald
Dr. Gladstone D'Costa
On Thu, Aug 9, 2018 at 2:46 PM Goanet Reader wrote:
> Pope Francis Declares Death Penalty Unacceptable in All Cases
>
> Pope Francis said that the
> Roman Catholic Church would
> work "with determination" for
> the abolition of capital
> punishment worldwide.
> Credit Alessandra
> Tarantino/Associated Press
>
> By Elisabetta Povoledo and Laurie Goodstein
> Aug. 2, 2018
>
> ROME -- Pope Francis has declared the death penalty wrong in
> all cases, a definitive change in church teaching that is
> likely to challenge Catholic politicians, judges and
> officials who have argued that their church was not entirely
> opposed to capital punishment.
>
> Before, church doctrine accepted the death penalty if it was
> "the only practicable way" to defend lives, an opening that
> some Catholics took as license to support capital punishment
> in many cases.
>
> But Francis said executions were unacceptable in
> all cases because they are "an attack" on human
> dignity, the Vatican announced on Thursday, adding
> that the church would work "with determination" to
> abolish capital punishment worldwide.
>
> Francis made the change to the Catechism of the Roman
> Catholic Church, the book of doctrine that is taught to
> Catholic children worldwide and studied by adults in a church
> with 1.2 billion members. Abolishing the death penalty has
> long been one of his top priorities, along with saving the
> environment and caring for immigrants and refugees.
>
> [Read about how the decree complicates Nebraska's plans for
> its first execution in more than 20 years.]
>
> A majority of the world's countries -- including nearly every
> nation in Europe and Latin America, regions that are home to
> large Catholic populations -- have already banned the death
> penalty, according to Amnesty International.
>
> The pope's decree is likely to hit hardest in the
> United States, where a majority of Catholics
> support the death penalty and the powerful
> "pro-life movement" has focused almost exclusively
> on ending abortion -- not the death penalty. The
> pope's move could put Catholic politicians in a new
> and difficult position, especially Catholic
> governors like Greg Abbott of Texas and Pete
> Ricketts of Nebraska, who have presided over
> executions.
>
> "If you're a Catholic governor who thinks the state has the
> right to end human life, you need to be comfortable saying
> you're disregarding orthodox church teaching," said John
> Gehring, the Catholic program director at Faith in Public
> Life, a liberal-leaning advocacy group in Washington. "There
> isn't any loophole for you to wiggle through now."
>
> The new ruling could also complicate the lives of American
> judges who are practicing Catholics.
>
> President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Brett
> M. Kavanaugh, is Catholic, as are Chief Justice John G.
> Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr.
> and Sonia Sotomayor. One of the other finalists for the
> vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Anthony M.
> Kennedy was Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who is also Catholic.
>
> She wrote a 1998 law review article suggesting that Catholic
> judges should consider recusing themselves in some death
> penalty cases that might conflict with their religious
> beliefs.
>
> In a 2002 article, Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016,
> said, "I do not find the death penalty immoral," and added
> that he was confident that Catholic doctrine allowed for its
> use in some cases.
>
> He wrote that it would be a bad idea if Catholic
> judges had to recuse themselves in death penalty
> cases or if Catholic governors had to promise
> commutations of death sentences, and commented,
> "Most of them would never reach the governor's
> mansion."
>
> Chester L. Gillis, professor of theology at Georgetown
> University, described Francis's new teaching on the death
> penalty as "part of the regular teaching of the church" and
> "binding." But that does not mean that Catholics who believe
> differently will face penalties or be denied the sacraments.
>
> "There are lots of other teachings in the Catholic church
> that not everybody abides by," he said. "Is practicing birth
> control a mortal sin? If true there would be a lot of couples
> in mortal sin."
>
> A majority
