Brochure of the Month

Brochure of the Month:  March 2019

A Catholic Response to the Death Penalty

       Murder, mass shootings, terrorism and other violent crimes cry out for justice. Yet we serve a God of life, of hope and of mercy. Human dignity applies to every human being, even those who have committed terrible crimes against life. After Cain killed Abel, God punished him with exile, to be a fugitive and wanderer rather than a grower of crops. But He did not kill him and promised vengeance to anyone who did. (Gen 4:10-15) One of the principal failures of the death penalty is that it denies the opportunity for repentance and conversion. Who are we to put an end to work God is trying to accomplish is someone’s soul? It is also true that as of 2012, 141 people on death row have been exonerated by evidence later discovered. We teach that killing is wrong by responding with mercy and justice, not more killing.
“The dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform.”
                                                                     --Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 1995

Not in the brochure: In August of 2018, Pope Francis changed the catechism to reflect a new teaching on the death penalty.  In light of “increasing awareness that the dignity of the human person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes” and that more efficient means of detention have been developed, the catechism now states that “the death penalty is “inadmissible”.

The brochure is available at the Hospitality Desk in the Church and in the Ave Maria Family Life Center. Links to the text (8.5 X 11 format) are here:  English    Spanish.