I read this article called
The Death Penalty… Is it according to Sacred Scripture? written by Raymond DeSouza
"Pope Francis declared... that the death penalty is 'contrary to the Gospel.’ He said that ‘however grave the crime… the death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolability and the dignity of the person’” (America, the Jesuit magazine, October 11, 2017)"
the author says that it seemed the whole body of Catholic teaching on the matter had been set aside, from the Old Testament to the New.
The author mentions that Pope John Paul II opposed the application of the death penalty, but hoped it would never be necessary to apply it, yet did not oppose it in principle.
Pope Francis modified the Catechism of the Catholic Church to exclude the death penalty... yet the God of the Old Testament is the… same God of the New, says De Souza. He asks: Did God change His mind?
Were all those in the Church including canonized saints who came before Francis wrong? The author reminds us that Jesus promised to protect the Church until the end of times (Mt 16:18), that the gates of Hell would not prevail?
The author asks if canonizations are infallible? If so, he wonders how could those saints be canonized if their teaching on capital punishment was “contrary to the Gospel”?
"I prefer to do a little Bible study," says De Souza, "and, by leaving aside the Old Testament, which is evidently in favor of the death penalty, see what our Lord says in the gospel [that] is supposedly contrary to capital punishment:
"First, the Parable of the King’s Marriage Feast:
“The kingdom of Heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son. And he sent his servants, to call them that were invited to the marriage; and they would not come.” We know that the invited guests abused the servants, and even actually killed some of them.
“But when the king had heard of it, he was angry, and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burn their city” (Matthew 22)
Yes, the king had them all killed and their city was burned to the ground. No one remained to tell the story…"
Then De Souza mentions the Parable of the Wicked Wine dressers:
“There was a man who planted a vineyard… and let it out to husbandmen and went into a strange country. And when the time of the fruits drew nigh, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits thereof. And the husbandmen laying hands on his servants, beat one… killed another, and stoned another.”
They did the same with other servants then in the end killed the very son of the owner. Jesus asked the disciples: When, therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen?”
“They say to him: He will bring those evil men to an evil end.” (Mt 21). Jesus accepted their judgment and did not correct them… did not say that their desire to give an evil end to those evil men attacked “the inviolability and the dignity of the person.”
Then there is the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant:
In Luke 17, we learn of a man who owed much to his lord and begged to be given time to pay [the debt] which the lord, out of pity, agreed to. The servant… had a small debt to be paid him from another servant but he did not give the… man the time he needed, and sent him to prison. What happened next?
“And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt.”
Jesus did not say that the unforgiving servant should be immediately killed, but should be tortured until he paid his debt. Torture obviously can be worse than death.
The author mentions other passages in the Bible.. I will address them later but really, this seems sufficient..
The Death Penalty… Is it according to Sacred Scripture? written by Raymond DeSouza
"Pope Francis declared... that the death penalty is 'contrary to the Gospel.’ He said that ‘however grave the crime… the death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolability and the dignity of the person’” (America, the Jesuit magazine, October 11, 2017)"
the author says that it seemed the whole body of Catholic teaching on the matter had been set aside, from the Old Testament to the New.
The author mentions that Pope John Paul II opposed the application of the death penalty, but hoped it would never be necessary to apply it, yet did not oppose it in principle.
Pope Francis modified the Catechism of the Catholic Church to exclude the death penalty... yet the God of the Old Testament is the… same God of the New, says De Souza. He asks: Did God change His mind?
Were all those in the Church including canonized saints who came before Francis wrong? The author reminds us that Jesus promised to protect the Church until the end of times (Mt 16:18), that the gates of Hell would not prevail?
The author asks if canonizations are infallible? If so, he wonders how could those saints be canonized if their teaching on capital punishment was “contrary to the Gospel”?
"I prefer to do a little Bible study," says De Souza, "and, by leaving aside the Old Testament, which is evidently in favor of the death penalty, see what our Lord says in the gospel [that] is supposedly contrary to capital punishment:
"First, the Parable of the King’s Marriage Feast:
“The kingdom of Heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son. And he sent his servants, to call them that were invited to the marriage; and they would not come.” We know that the invited guests abused the servants, and even actually killed some of them.
“But when the king had heard of it, he was angry, and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burn their city” (Matthew 22)
Yes, the king had them all killed and their city was burned to the ground. No one remained to tell the story…"
Then De Souza mentions the Parable of the Wicked Wine dressers:
“There was a man who planted a vineyard… and let it out to husbandmen and went into a strange country. And when the time of the fruits drew nigh, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits thereof. And the husbandmen laying hands on his servants, beat one… killed another, and stoned another.”
They did the same with other servants then in the end killed the very son of the owner. Jesus asked the disciples: When, therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen?”
“They say to him: He will bring those evil men to an evil end.” (Mt 21). Jesus accepted their judgment and did not correct them… did not say that their desire to give an evil end to those evil men attacked “the inviolability and the dignity of the person.”
Then there is the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant:
In Luke 17, we learn of a man who owed much to his lord and begged to be given time to pay [the debt] which the lord, out of pity, agreed to. The servant… had a small debt to be paid him from another servant but he did not give the… man the time he needed, and sent him to prison. What happened next?
“And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt.”
Jesus did not say that the unforgiving servant should be immediately killed, but should be tortured until he paid his debt. Torture obviously can be worse than death.
The author mentions other passages in the Bible.. I will address them later but really, this seems sufficient..
