Nebraska highlights the Catholic Churchs struggle with the death penalty

State Senator Ernie Chambers of Omaha has been trying to abolish the death penalty since 1976. (Photo by Joseph P. Hoover)

Joseph P. Hoover
April 25, 2017

Every few weeks, it seems, a news item about the death penalty appears in the national media, often in the guise of tragic farce. A proposal is made in Alabama to bring back firing squads. The state of Arizona wants to let the condemned supply their own lethal injection drugs. Arkansas tries to execute eight men in 10 days before its execution drugs expire. Nebraska upends political expectations when its legislature bans the death penalty, but a year later voters overwhelmingly choose to bring it back.

In the case of Nebraska, the Catholic Church put itself in the thick of the debate. Its brief but robust campaign to maintain the ban on capital punishment last year illuminated one of the church’s most challenging tasks: promoting Catholic social teaching in a way that actually changes society.

Trying to convince Catholics in Nebraska to oppose the death penalty involved discussions around concepts like “prudential matter,” “intrinsic evil” and “non-negotiables.” The campaign raised a question that comes up time and again in Catholic circles: Can you “rank” moral principles, especially surrounding the defense of life?

It also raised questions about how the church advocates on a justice issue when its teaching on that issue has evolved over time. Has the leadership of the church failed over the years in educating the faithful on the entire swath of its social doctrine? Is a Catholic obligated to adhere to every last teaching of the church? Are there cases, in some places and at some times, where no matter how ardently the church fights, the Catholic position has no chance?

https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2017/04/25/nebraska-highlights-catholic-churchs-struggle-death-penalty