Posted on 03/20/2015 1:12:26 PM PDT by ebb tide
Capital punishment is cruel, inhuman and an offense to the dignity of human life. In today's world, the death penalty is "inadmissible, however serious the crime" that has been committed. That was Pope Francis’ unequivocal message to members of the International Commission against the death penalty who met with him on Friday morning in the Vatican.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s report:
In a lengthy letter written in Spanish and addressed to the president of the International Commission against the death penalty, Pope Francis thanks those who work tirelessly for a universal moratorium, with the goal of abolishing the use of capital punishment in countries right across the globe.
Pope Francis makes clear that justice can never be done by killing another human being and he stresses there can be no humane way of carrying out a death sentence. For Christians, he says, all life is sacred because every one of us is created by God, who does not want to punish one murder with another, but rather wishes to see the murderer repent. Even murderers, he went on, do not lose their human dignity and God himself is the guarantor.
Capital punishment, Pope Francis says, is the opposite of divine mercy, which should be the model for our man-made legal systems. Death sentences, he insists, imply cruel and degrading treatment, as well as the torturous anguish of a lengthy waiting period before the execution, which often leads to sickness or insanity.
The Pope also condemns the use of the death penalty by “totalitarian regimes” or “fanatical groups” who seek to exterminate “political prisoners”, “minorities”, or anyone seen as a threat to political power and ambitions.
But he makes quite clear that the use of capital punishment signifies “a failure” on the part of any State. However serious the crime, he says, an execution “does not bring justice to the victims, but rather encourages revenge” and denies any hope of repentence or reparation for the crime that has been committed.
The Pontiff is, sadly, showing his DemonRAT colors. I believe his background is from a country steeped in a fascist/communist political philosophy. On the other hand, the anti-Catholic lamestream media is possibly taking his words out of context or perhaps wrongly translating them. If so, I retract my statement about the DemonRAT/fascist/communist tendencies of the Pope.
That's why he wrote it in Spanish and penned how it was a tool for political oppression. A huge problem here... Or maybe a huge problem in South American countries where Spanish is the primary language. Something like that... Quick, someone check and see if the Pope has a hotline to Hillary!
The Pope’s remark bings Mark 7:7-9 to mind.
Francis,
Sit down and shut up.
L
Then I’m glad he’s just being misunderstood, for the 55th time.
How many times must he be misunderstood before we come to a conclusion that he just might be meaning what he is saying?
Real repentance does not remove the punishment that must be imposed. If I’m really sorry for taking a tv, I would be more than happy, if I’m really repentant, of replacing that tv with a better one or giving the money of what a better tv would cost.
I would not seek to try and escape my obligation of replacing the tv.
suggest the holy man solve the root cause problem.....not the legal recourse....
Oh, shut yer pie hole, papa.
English translation. In the original Hebrew, the word was "murder." Different connotation.
There’s no Catholic doctrine on the death penalty, so Catholics are free to have whatever opinion they want on it. This is only Pope Francis’ opinion.
What penalty do you give the lifer in prison who murders another prisoner (not uncommon in prison life)?
Or a guard?
What penalty can you hold over his head to prevent that?
What penalty if a gang member in prison for life, orders the murder of someone outside?
What penalty can you hold over his head to prevent that?
I have some reservations about capital punishment. But none of them are theological. The Pope is clearly wrong here.
Pope Francis is a dissident of the teachings and Magisterium of the Church. His first step as Pope was to legitimize the Marxist liberation theology, a perversion of the Gospels proscribed by His Holiness John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI following the precedent s of repudiation of that diabolical ideology set by all the Popes since the end of the XIX century.
The position of the Church on the death penalty is also clear including the legitimization of the tyrannicide. St. Thomas Aquinas gave the most substantial argument for tyrannicide. He based his position on his arguments for just war and capital punishment. St. Thomas concluded, "He who kills a tyrant (i.e. an usurper) to free his country is praised and rewarded" (In 2 Sentences, 44.2.2).
Certainly, a Pope that gave moral support for president Obama to keep a float the Cuban tyrants would not “praise and reward” a patriot who would ultimate the genocides of the Cuban people.
To delve deeper on this matter:
Does the Church Condone Tyrannicide?
FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS
http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/does-the-church-condone-tyrannicide.html
Imagine a pope ignorant of the Cachecism of the Catholic Church. That’s Francis in a nutshell. Sad.
That is correct. Murder and rape. God wants us to send them to Him.
I wouldn't even call it a "prudential" judgement.
More than just those:
Exodus 21:12-14; Leviticus 24:17,21
Exodus 21:15,17
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
Exodus 21:16
Exodus 21:28-29
Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 20:27, Deuteronomy 13:5, 1 Samuel 28:9
Leviticus 20:2-5
Exodus 22:19, Leviticus 20:16
Exodus 31:14, 35:2, Numbers 15:32-36
Leviticus 18:6-18, 20:11-12,14,17,19-21
Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22
Leviticus 20:13
Leviticus 21:9
Leviticus 24:14,16, 23
Deuteronomy 18:20
Deuteronomy 19:16-19
Deuteronomy 17:12
Deuteronomy 22:13-21
Deuteronomy 22:23-24
I oppose the death penalty, but exceptions must be made for men who kill other prisoners and the Ted Bundys’ of this world.
If Christ is against the death penalty then why did He pay it for us instead of declaring it unjust?
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