Catholic Church and capital punishment

Uncommon card · No. 108045

Since 2018, the Catechism of the Catholic Church has stated that the Catholic Church opposes the death penalty. That year, Pope Francis revised the Catechism to read that the death penalty is "inadmissible" and that the Church works "for its abolition worldwide". Prior to this, the 1992 Catechism promulgated by Pope John Paul II had permitted the practice, reading that "the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty", though he stated that the practice must be limited only to extreme circumstances. Historically, the Catholic Church has supported the death penalty. Figures including Pope Innocent I, Pope Innocent III, Thomas Aquinas, Francisco de Vitoria, Francisco Suárez, Pope Pius V, Robert Bellarmine, Alphonsus Liguori, Thomas More, John Henry Newman, Pope Pius X, and Pope Pius XII all wrote in support of the practice. Conversely, several theologians and Church Fathers prior to the 5th century including Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, and Cyprian...

Read on Wikipedia · Image The original uploader was Briangotts at English Wikipedia., Public domain