Pope Francis said the death penalty, can never be sanctioned because it ‘attacks’ the inherent dignity of all humans. AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file

But in spite of his definitive statement, Pope Francis’ act will probably only deepen the debate about whether Christians can support capital punishment.

As a Catholic scholar who writes about religion, politics and policy, I understand how Christians struggle with the death penalty – some cannot endure the idea and others support it as a way to deter and punish terrible crimes. Some Christian theologians have also observed that capital punishment could actually lead to a change of heart among criminals who might repent when faced with the finality of death.

Is the death penalty un-Christian?
 

The two sides

In its early centuries, Christianity was seen with suspicion by authorities. Writing in defense of Christians who were unfairly charged with crimes in second-century Rome, philosopher Anthenagoras of Athens condemned the death penalty and wrote that Christians “cannot endure even to see a man put to death, though justly.”

But as Christianity became more connected with state power, European Christian monarchs and governments regularly carried out the death penalty until its abolition in the 1950s through the European Convention on Human Rights. In the Western world, today, only the United States and Belarus retain capital punishment for crimes not committed during wartime. But China, and many nations in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa still apply the death penalty.

Support for the death penalty is falling worldwide. World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, CC BY-SA

According to a 2015 Pew Research Center Survey, support for the death penalty is falling worldwide. However, in the United States a majority of white Protestants and Catholics continue to be in favor of it.

Critics of the American justice system argue that the deterrence value of capital punishment is debatable. There are also studies showing that, in the United States, capital punishment is unfairly applied, especially to African-Americans.
 

Christian views

In the Hebrew Bible, Exodus 21:12 states that “whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.” In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus, however, rejects the notion of retribution when he says “if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

While it is true that the Hebrew Bible prescribes capital punishment for a variety of offenses, it is also true that later Jewish jurists set out rigorous standards for the death penalty so that it could be used only in rare circumstances.

A 2010 photo of a victims advocate Ann Pace who supports the death penalty. AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

At issue in Christian considerations of the death penalty is whether the state has the obligation to punish criminals and defend its citizens.

St. Paul, an early Christian evangelist, wrote in his letter to the Romans that a ruler acts as “an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” The Middle Ages in Europe saw thousands of murderers, witches and heretics put to death. While church courts of this period generally did not carry out capital punishment, they did turn criminals over to secular authorities for execution.

Thirteenth-century Catholic philosopher Thomas Aquinas argued that the death penalty could be justified for the greater welfare of society. Later Protestant reformers also supported the right of the state to impose capital punishment. John Calvin, a Protestant theologian and reformer, argued that Christian forgiveness did not mean overturning established laws.
 

The position of Pope Francis

Among Christian leaders, Pope Francis has been at the forefront of arguing against the death penalty.

The letter accompanying the Pope’s declaration makes several points. First, it acknowledges that the Catholic Church has previously taught that the death penalty is appropriate in certain instances. Second, the letter argues that modern methods of imprisonment effectively protect society from criminals. Third, the letter states that this development of Catholic doctrine is consistent with the thought of the two previous popes: St. Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

St. John Paul II maintained that capital punishment should be reserved only for “absolute necessity.” Benedict XVI also supported efforts to eliminate the death penalty.

Most important, however, is that Pope Francis is emphasizing an ethic of forgiveness. The Pope has argued that social justice applies to all citizens. He also believes that those who harm society should make amends through acts that affirm life, not death.

Jesus’ message was of forgiveness. Brandon, CC BY-SA

For Pope Francis, the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of life are the core values of Christianity, regardless of the circumstances.

This is an updated version of an article first published on April 27, 2017.
 

Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy Cross

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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What does it mean for a pope to apologize? AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

In times past, a personal apology from the pope would have been close to unthinkable.

Popes can make mistakes

Catholics believe the pope is the successor to the Apostle Peter, one of the first followers of Jesus. But Peter was a flawed human being: When confronted by a crowd, he denied his association with Jesus three times. Afterwards, according to the Gospel of Matthew, Peter “wept bitterly.”

For Catholics, Peter’s experience shows that even those specially chosen by God have deep-seated weaknesses for which they must show sorrow.

Popes are not always right in what they do, but their errors have been admitted only years – sometimes centuries – later. In 1992, for example, John Paul II apologized for the Catholic Church’s condemnation of Galileo that happened over 350 years earlier.
Once rare, papal apologies increased under the reign of John Paul II. While those apologies admitted that the Church made mistakes, they did not ask for forgiveness for past popes.

Church history on apology

In the middle ages, popes were not inclined to apologize at all, or even accept apologies. Most famously, in 1077 A.D., Pope Gregory VII initially rejected King Henry IV’s apology concerning a dispute over who had the power to appoint local bishops. The pope forced Henry, then the king of the Holy Roman Empire, to wait in a blizzard for three days before accepting him back into the Catholic Church.

This dismissive attitude gave way to soul-searching during the Second Vatican Council, a seminal meeting that modernized the Church, held in Rome from 1962-65. One of the most important issues Catholicism had to confront was its historical persecution of Jews. Thousands of Jews were killed as Crusaders made their way to Jerusalem. Jews were expelled from Catholic Spain in 1492. And most horrible was the Holocaust, or “Shoah,” the organized slaughter of over 6 million Jews, which occurred in Christian-majority nations during the Second World War.

In one of the council’s most important documents, Nostra Aetate, the Catholic Church rejected the idea that Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Nostra Aetate also established a foundation for a more cooperative and respectful relationship between Christians and Jews.

In 1966, the Church moved to apologize for centuries of distrust between Catholics and Protestants, when Pope Paul VI gave his ring to Michael Ramsey, the head of the Anglican church – the 100th archbishop of Canterbury – as an offering of reconciliation.

Pope John Paul II. AP Photo/Alik Keplicz-file

Pope John Paul II gave many apologies, but usually on behalf of the Church for what was done centuries ago. Most notable was the “Day for Pardon” in March 2000, that asked forgiveness for a series of sins, including those “against the dignity of women and the unity of the human race” and “actions against love, peace, the rights of peoples, and respect for cultures and religions.”

But many remember how Pope John Paul II remained largely silent on the issue of clerical abuse because it “did not fit with his image of the Church,” according to Australian bishop Geoffrey Robinson. In a 2002 address to American cardinals, John Paul II did say he was “greatly grieved” that priests “had caused such suffering and scandal to the young,” but he stopped short of offering a personal plea for forgiveness.

Following John Paul’s example, Pope Benedict XVI stated in a 2010 letter that he was “sorry” that Catholics of Ireland had “suffered grievously” because of the “abuse of children and vulnerable young people.” But he did not apologize for lack of Vatican oversight over Irish bishops and priests.

Perhaps the closest parallel to Pope Francis’ apology was Pope Benedict’s expression of regret over “reactions” to his address in 2006 at the University of Regensburg, Germany, where he seemed to criticize Islam.
 

What is Pope Francis doing?

Fully accepting that the pope is a fallible human being can be somewhat of an emotional struggle for Catholics. While the pope – also called “The Vicar of Christ” – is considered to be infallible when he formally makes a statement about Catholic doctrine concerning “faith and morals,” the pope certainly makes mistakes in his priestly service and personal life.

Francis, however, is not shy about admitting his own fallibility as a pope and as a person. In fact, he said in a 2013 interview:
 

“I am a sinner. This the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”

With that statement, Pope Francis was saying that he – a leader of 1 billion people – needs forgiveness and mercy too. And mercy and forgiveness have been the central themes of his pontificate.

Of the many responsibilities of a pope, chief among them is being a teacher. And when Francis apologized to the people of Chile and to victims of sexual abuse, he also was teaching the rest of us how to admit our sins as a first step in making things right.

Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy Cross

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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