Pope alters Church’s position on death penalty

The Vatican said that Francis has changed the catechism of the Catholic Church – the compilation of official Catholic teaching.

Previously, the catechism said the church did not exclude recourse to capital punishment “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor”.

The new teaching says the previous policy is outdated and that there are other ways to protect society.

It adds: “Consequently the church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person, and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”

In an accompanying letter explaining the change, the head of the Vatican’s doctrine office said the development of Catholic doctrine on capital punishment did not contradict prior teaching, but rather was an evolution of it.

“If, in fact the political and social situation of the past made the death penalty an acceptable means for the protection of the common good, today the increasing understanding that the dignity of a person is not lost even after committing the most serious crimes,” said Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Francis has for a long time criticised the death penalty, insisting it can never be justified, no matter how heinous the crime.

He has also…