In September 2015, Pope Francis urged the United States to abolish the death penalty during an address to Congress. Similar to the previous pope, Pope Francis advocated abolition because “every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes” (“Address of the Holy Father”). Although the Roman Catholic Church now opposes capital punishment, their strong stance for abolition is fairly recent, starting around the 1980s. Almost all religious groups and denominations have a passionate view on the morality and the legality of death penalty. This fervor incited an abundance of political and religious debates, spurring both religious leaders
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The pacifist Christian religions, such as Quakers and Mennonites, have held an abolitionist viewpoint since the Middle Ages (Dulles). However, when the U.S. Catholic Bishops issued their statement in 1974, it marked a turning point for Roman Catholics. In 1980, the bishops published another negative statement regarding the death penalty in response to some very public executions in Florida and Utah (“Bishop’s Statement”). In the “Bishop’s Statement on Capital Punishment, 1980,” they explained that the debate over the death penalty dealt with the sanctity and protection of human life, preservation of order in society, and maintaining justice through the law. Capital punishment cannot be justified by the usual purposes of rehabilitation, deterrence, or retribution. The bishops argued that abolition “is also a manifestation of our belief in the unique worth and dignity of each person from the moment of conception, a creature made in the image and likeness of God,” suggesting that beliefs about abortion and the death penalty must go hand in hand. They encouraged parishioners to follow Jesus’s example of forgiveness and love demonstrated in the New Testament and called for necessary changes in the judicial system to improve the reform and reintegration of convicted criminals back into society (“Bishop’s
The pacifist Christian religions, such as Quakers and Mennonites, have held an abolitionist viewpoint since the Middle Ages (Dulles). However, when the U.S. Catholic Bishops issued their statement in 1974, it marked a turning point for Roman Catholics. In 1980, the bishops published another negative statement regarding the death penalty in response to some very public executions in Florida and Utah (“Bishop’s Statement”). In the “Bishop’s Statement on Capital Punishment, 1980,” they explained that the debate over the death penalty dealt with the sanctity and protection of human life, preservation of order in society, and maintaining justice through the law. Capital punishment cannot be justified by the usual purposes of rehabilitation, deterrence, or retribution. The bishops argued that abolition “is also a manifestation of our belief in the unique worth and dignity of each person from the moment of conception, a creature made in the image and likeness of God,” suggesting that beliefs about abortion and the death penalty must go hand in hand. They encouraged parishioners to follow Jesus’s example of forgiveness and love demonstrated in the New Testament and called for necessary changes in the judicial system to improve the reform and reintegration of convicted criminals back into society (“Bishop’s