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The Catholic Movement Against Capital Punishment
Pope Francis praying the Angelus on February 21st, the day he called for a global moratorium on the death penalty. (Reuters)
MARCH 18, 2016
BY PAUL ELIE
On February 21st, as Mario Marazziti prepared Sunday lunch at his apartment in Trastevere, he had the television on, turned to Rai Vaticano, the Italian state channel devoted to coverage of the Catholic Church. It showed an image of Pope Francis in the window of the papal apartments overlooking St. Peters Square. Therea fifteen-minute walk from Trastevere, via the old pilgrim roadFrancis was leading the faithful in a set of prayers known as the Angelus. The Pope usually speaks briefly when the prayers are finished, and, on this Sunday, Francis called for a global moratorium on the death penalty, as part of the Year of Mercy he initiated last fall.
The commandment Do not kill holds absolute value and applies to both the innocent and the guilty, Francis said. He called for politicians to work for the abolition of the death penalty, and went on, And I propose to all those among them who are Catholic to make a courageous and exemplary gesture: may no execution sentence be carried out in this Holy Year of Mercy.
Popes have denounced capital punishment for four decades, drawing on a much longer history of religious revulsion toward the practice; but, by calling for a moratorium, Francis turned opprobrium for the death penalty into a simple step that governments and their executives can take.
Marazziti had hoped that Pope Francis would offer a statement of support for the moratoria. He and his compatriots in the Community of SantEgidio, a progressive Catholic movement based in Rome, were instrumental in bringing it about. They had asked Francis to consider making such a statement in advance of a conference against the death penalty they had planned for the coming week.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-catholic-movement-against-capital-punishment
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The Catholic Movement Against Capital Punishment (Original Post)
rug
Mar 2016
OP
meow2u3
(24,745 posts)1. It's about time the death penalty be relegated to ancient history
Real pro-lifers don't support the death penalty and I'd like to see it gone from the United States, at least.
IMO, the death penalty is a barbaric practice since its victims are less likely to be able to defend themselves in court, making it inherently unjust. I've never seen a billionaire end up in the gurney with a needle in his arm.
rug
(82,333 posts)2. It is not a deterrent. It eliminates any possibility of change.
It's only purpose is punishment.