Just one more point:
The Pope's sweeping new doctrine, in practice, would make it morally obligatory for every nation to equip itself with modern maximum security prisons to provide for the type of hyperaggressive offenders who would otherwise face the death penalty: narco-criminals, serial murderers, terrorists, and other highly dangerous felons.
For the average maximum security prison, the cost is $62,730 (U.S. dollars) per year for EACH prisoner.
It can go higher. In Rhode Island alone, violent criminals cost the state up to $200,000 for EACH prisoner in a recent fiscal year, according to cost-per-offender data released by the Department of Corrections (DOC).
These annual costs include salary and benefits for department staff, operating expenses, medical costs, probation and parole costs and home confinement expenses along with overhead and capital costs (which I think means the amortized costs of building and equipping the prison to begin with.)
The department spent $190 million in one year for the 90 prisoners at the High Security Center in Cranston, RI.
OK. One of the countries that executed convicted criminals last year, was South Sudan, where 66% of the population is living on less than $2 a day. Last year they had a total government budget of $259.6 million, 98% of which comes from state-controlled oil revenues.
If this country built a SuperMax prison to accommodate just 130 prisoners, it would consume their entire annual government budget.
I don't think I need to draw a picture of what this would mean to the already suffering, destitute people of South Sudan who must deal with both poverty and hypercrime.
This is problem with simply waving one's papal hand and stipulating that the death penalty is no longer needed to secure society from violent aggressors in the light of the "fact" that modern penal systems are now available.
Thanks for developing this point. It is worthy of an article, and pointing out the first world hypocrisy of those who are against the death penalty. Building special facilities and a large staff of specialists to make life imprisonment a possibility is a first world luxury.
Clerics are sometimes too isolated from incarnation realities and limitations.
I think that Italy should build walls around Vatican City and bus in all the migrants that they don’t want until the Pope cries uncle.