Pope Seeks End To Death Penalty

[Sarah147]

"[i]Pope Benedict XVI voiced support Wednesday for political actions around the world aimed at eliminating the death penalty, reflecting his stance as an opponent of capital punishment.

He made the comments during his weekly public audience to participants at a meeting being promoted by the Catholic Sant'Egidio Community on the theme "No Justice without Life.[/i]"
[url="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pope-seeks-end-death-penalty-15056658#.TteRv9U7Isk"]Read more[/url]


I just came across this on Catholic Answers.

[Maggyie]

I'm glad the Holy Father is speaking out on this!

[Jesus_lol]

Waits for the inevitable responses from certain catholics about how the Pope's opinion is both not dogma and wrong.

[Papist]

[quote name='Jesus_lol' timestamp='1323136348' post='2345239']
Waits for the inevitable responses from certain catholics about how the Pope's opinion is both not dogma and wrong.
[/quote]
Who certain catholics?

[Jesus_lol]

[quote name='Papist' timestamp='1323138574' post='2345268']
Who certain catholics?
[/quote]

were you around for the last big thread on the Death Penalty?

[Vincent Vega]

Good. I think it's about time we ended the death penalty in first-world nations.

[CatherineM]

I hope he has better luck than John Paul II had with the issue.

[brianthephysicist]

I hope so too.

It's often easy for me to overlook the death penalty when I think about what I can do to spread a culture of life. It's good to have reminders like this from our Church leaders.

Prayers!

[MIKolbe]

Doesn't the Pope know that the power to execute criminals has been given to the state by God?

[Papist]

I never understood the need for the death penalty in a society that can construct brick building with steel doors.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Papist

[dominicansoul]

[quote name='MIkolbe' timestamp='1323169632' post='2345416']
Doesn't the Pope know that the power to execute criminals has been given to the state by God?
[/quote]

[FutureCarmeliteClaire]

VIVA LA PAPA!!! I love my Holy Father.

[Socrates]

[size=4][b]Catechism of the Council of Trent[/b][/size]

The power of life and death is permitted to certain civil magistrates because theirs is the responsibility under law to punish the guilty and protect the innocent. Far from being guilty of breaking this commandment [Thy shall not kill], such an execution of justice is precisely an act of obedience to it. For the purpose of the law is to protect and foster human life. This purpose is fulfilled when the legitimate authority of the State is exercised by taking the guilty lives of those who have taken innocent lives.

In the Psalms we find a vindication of this right: “Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all evildoers from the city of the Lord” (Ps. 101:8).

[right][size=2][size=3]([i]Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent[/i], 1566, Part III, 5, n. 4[/size])[/size][/right]

Edited December 7, 2011 by Socrates

[sixpence]

As a Christian, I am all forgiveness and whatnot.... but I do not really expect the government to be Christian with that whole "separation of Church and State" thingy... I am satisfied/surprised when the government runs things by Old Testament standards (ex. capital punishment if guilty of something very serious). On the other hand, do we really need to kill them now-a-days? I dunno? Probably not!

[Laudate_Dominum]

In terms of subjective values I think that killing people is disgraceful, no matter how defective the victim. Rehabilitation and containment are interesting. As a practical and sociological question I suspect that institutionalized people slaying is not so healthy for a society.