The revised teaching declares that the death penalty is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person, and that the church works “for its abolition worldwide.”
Death Penalty
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Tennessee’s Catholic bishops urge governor to halt upcoming executions
Bishops J. Mark Spalding of Nashville, Richard F. Stika of Knoxville and Martin D. Holley of Memphis have written to Gov. Bill Haslam urging him to “use your authority as governor to put an end to the fast-track executions planned” in the state of Tennessee in the upcoming months.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Nebraska Catholic bishops oppose execution of death-row inmate
Encouraging an act of mercy and arguing it would not compromise justice, Nebraska’s three Catholic bishops said July 6 they oppose the scheduled execution in August of death-row inmate Carey Dean Moore.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
California has over 700 people on death row and executions could begin soon
In California, Catholic opponents of the death penalty are trying to protect the largest population of inmates awaiting execution in the Western Hemisphere.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Applying the death penalty for drug offenses degrades the U.S. justice system
To suggest the use of the death penalty as a way to address the opioid epidemic ignores what we know already to be true: The death penalty is a flawed and broken tool in the practical pursuit of justice.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Victims’ families say the death penalty inhibits their healing.
Our January 24 guest is Lisa Murtha, an award-winning freelance journalist based in southwest Ohio. We speak to her about her recent article for America, “These families lost loved ones to violence. Now they are fighting the death penalty.“ We also discuss these topics: Pope Francis explains why he celebrated the airborne marriage of two flight attendants […]
Posted inFaith, Features
These families lost loved ones to violence. Now they are fighting the death penalty.
Discussions of capital punishment do not often address how death sentences affect the people who are left behind.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Texas execution of Mexican citizen rebuked by President Peña Nieto
Mr. Cardenas’s lawyers argued that Texas authorities had not properly informed him that as a Mexican citizen he was entitled to legal aid from the Mexican consulate.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Advocates for death penalty abolition encouraged by Pope Francis statement
“We absolutely welcome the pope’s strong statement on this issue; we welcome the moral clarity and the leadership he is showing.”
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Sister Helen Prejean: Why Pope Francis’ rejection of the death penalty is so important
At last, a clear, uncompromising stance of moral opposition to the death penalty by the highest authority of the church.