Pope Francis tackled several issues in his new encyclical, but the section devoted to ending capital punishment was particularly cheered by U.S. Catholics who oppose the death penalty.

Pope Francis’ new encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti,” does something that some Catholics believed could not be done: It ratifies a change in church teaching.

U.S. bishops call the application of capital punishment “completely unnecessary and unacceptable.”

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy: “The death penalty serves as a sort of litmus test for how our nation is making progress to either dismantle or uphold racism.”

Catholic leaders have joined their voices with members of the Navajo Nation in opposing the Aug. 26 scheduled execution of Lezmond Mitchell, the only Native American on federal death row.

The Catholic Church and the Navajo Nation stand together in opposition to the execution of Lezmond Mitchell because it, like the racism which brought his death sentence to pass, erodes the sanctity of human life, writes Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy.