Missionaries of the Sacred

I rejoice that on 18 December. . .the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution calling upon States to institute a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, and I earnestly hope that this initiative will lead to public debate on the sacred character of human life. (Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See for the Traditional Exchange of New Year Greetings, January 7, 2008, #11)

In our efforts to pursue and develop a culture of life, we now look at the institution of the death penalty and our penal system.

One of my particular ministries of social justice is a pen-pal ministry, in which I exchange letters with prisoners. Several of these pen pals are on death row or have been on death row, but now sentenced to life in prison.

After a 5-year moratorium, the United States reinstated the death penalty (capital punishment) in 1976, proclaiming it constitutional under the 8th amendment.¹ Since this date, there have been over 1150 executions of prisoners. The latest was on March 2nd in the state of Texas. In 2009, 52 prisoners were put to death; 24 of these were from the state of Texas. Texas continues to remain the leading state for enforcing the death penalty with over 400 victims since 1977.² Fifteen states do not have the death penalty: Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont West Virginia. and Wisconsin. The District of Colombia does not have the death penalty.³ Presently there are over 3,000 prisoners on death row.⁴

In our efforts to pursue and develop a culture of life, it seems that the death penalty is one more practice which is contrary to the sanctity of human life. Capital punishment is an action where death is used to resolve the moral problems of crime and violence. It is a vehicle of violence, which adds to the already staggering violence which permeates our world. The death penalty communicates the disvalue that there is no place for love, compassion and pardon.

The Catholic Church holds to the development of doctrine. Through the centuries, the Catholic Church has always reflected on its faith and image as the sacrament of Christ on earth and what it means to be a human being. Each century the Church has striven to understand Jesus and His will. This process is accomplished through prayer and reflection on the gospels and the Moral Tradition of the Church. In each era, the Church must respond to the questions: Who is the human person? What maximizes the greatest well being for the proper development of humankind? Through weighing and accessing present moral issues, the Church always seeks to desire and search for truth, to love goodness and to avoid evil so that the message of Jesus may enlighten consciences for modern times.

With the above in mind, the Church has established today that the death penalty is not a viable solution for the progressive development of the sanctity of human life and human rights. The human being who from the moment of his/her conception is created in the image and likeness of God, has dignity, inviolability and holiness, as well as value and worth. The human person never loses this inviolable holiness. Respect for human dignity is a birthright. Human life is a gift of God and it must be safeguarded and protected at every moment in the life of an individual.

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