Capital punishment: a Catholic perspective
Is advocacy of abolishing the death penalty actually Catholic?
In the past few days, the Catholic news scene has been buzzing about the March 5th joint-editorial of four national Catholic publications in the United States,[1] which has called for the abolishment of the death penalty in this country.
In an CNS interview, the editor of Our Sunday Visitor stated that "[T]he death penalty is an important pro-life issue in this country for all Catholics" while the National Catholic Register's editor equated capital punishment with actual moral evils common in today's society:
[he] decried the rising assault on human life through abortion, euthanasia and war in addition to capital punishment.
'Even though they are of different moral weight, they all threaten human dignity and we must work to end them'..."[2]
All of this rhetoric though is based upon Modernist post-conciliar thinking, which effectively denies the common good of the social order as well as civil justice.
To offer some much-needed clarity on this philosophical and moral topic that is important for governing the secular sphere, we would like to recommend to our readers this early Angelus article: Capital punishment: a Catholic perspective, which states in its introduction:
The error of conceiving capital punishment as a moral evil is pervasive in the Catholic Church today. Arguments against the death penalty, as voiced by Catholics, have a common denominator, namely, the punishment is unchristian. The charge is most unusual because the Church perennially has defended the right of the State to put a criminal to death. In effect the current anti-capital punishment sentiment accuses the Church of uncharitable behavior for two millennia because she has sanctioned the State's right to 'carry the sword,' as St. Paul puts it (Romans 13:4)."
As the author states, many Catholics today have unfortunately been immersed in false concepts about charity, justice, human dignity and liberty—indeed, these have even been enshrined in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, the catechetical application of Vatican II. To this end, we must also suggest the reading of this critical study by Fr. Simoulin: Is the New Catechism Catholic? Another excellent resource is Fr. Gaudron's The Catechism of the Crisis in the Church.
The Society of St. Pius X is not alone in stating that the Catholic Church has traditionally upheld the legitimacy of the state to use capital punishment to preserve the common good. Various conservative-minded Catholics have also written about the problems of the joint-editorial, with one source even labelling it as "doctrinal solipsism."[3]
Ultimately, this entire issue—as also with the social travesties of abortion, euthanasia, the general break-down of matrimony, the family and rearing of children, and especially of religious liberty—are part and parcel to question of the Social Reign of Christ the King. For as long as the Kingship of Jesus over nations continues to be denied, His true peace and justice will never be obtained on this earth.
Footnotes
1 The four media outlets in question are: America, Our Sunday Visitor, National Catholic Reporter and National Catholic Register.
2 Quotes taken from "Four national Catholic publications call for ending the death penalty," Catholic News Service, March 5, 2015.
3 "Four Catholic journals indulge in doctrinal solipsism," Thomistica.net, March 5, 2014.
