Light over the Scaffold and Cell 18: The Redemption of Jacques Fesch — A Catholic Moral Narrative
2026 Victor R. Claveau, MJ Few modern Catholic testimonies illustrate the transformative power of divine grace more vividly than the prison writings collected in Light over the Scaffold: Prison Letters of Jacques Fesch and Cell 18: Unedited Letters of Jacques Fesch, edited and preserved by Augustin-Michel Lemonnier. These letters do not present the story of […]
Capitol Punishment – The Holy Father’s Position
Colin B. Donovan, STL The Church’s teaching has not changed, nor has the Pope said that it has. The Catechism and the Pope state that the state has the right to exact the death penalty. Nations have the right to just war and individuals have the right to self-defense. Does that mean that any and […]
Early Challenges to Capital Punishment
David W. T. Brattston The earliest church prohibited Christians from participating in capital punishment, as is evident from the following pronouncements by Christian writers before the Decian Persecution of A.D. 249-251. This period marks the 200th anniversary of the beginning of distinctively Christian literature, and the first quarter-millennium of our era. Dating from before […]
Statements by Pope John Paul II on the Death Penalty
The Church’s involvement in the issue of the death penalty has took on a high profile with Pope John Paul II’s visit to St. Louis in January 1999. Following are several quotes from the Pope. We hope you find these helpful as you continue your study on the death penalty. A. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia […]
The Vatican and the Death Penalty
Catholic Catechism passages relating to the death penalty What does the Catholic Church really teach about the death penalty? There seems to be much confusion among Catholics and non-Catholics alike on this subject. The definitive Latin edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, issued in September 1997, states that although the death penalty would […]
Letter to the Bishops regarding the new revision of number 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the death penalty
1. The Holy Father Pope Francis, in his Discourse on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of the Apostolic Constitution Fidei depositum, by which John Paul II promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church, asked that the teaching on the death penalty be reformulated so as to better reflect the development of the doctrine […]
Death Penalty
Victor R. Claveau, MJ In the law of Israel, the death penalty was mandatory for murder, for offenses having a specifically religious character, and for bearing false witness in a capital case.[1] But also subject to the death penalty were kidnapping in certain cases,[2] bestiality,[3] male homosexual behavior,[4] various incestuous relationships,[5] and adultery involving a […]
Capital Punishment
The encyclical “The Gospel of Life” (Evangelium Vitae) which was issued on March 25, 1995 provides a commentary on it regarding Catholic teaching on the death penalty. Capital punishment is placed in the context of legitimate self-defense – defense of the individual self, of an innocent third party, or of society. The encyclical teaches in […]
Catholicism & Capital Punishment
Avery Cardinal Dulles Among the major nations of the Western world, the United States is singular in still having the death penalty. After a five–year moratorium, from 1972 to 1977, capital punishment was reinstated in the United States courts. Objections to the practice have come from many quarters, including the American Catholic bishops, who have […]