7/21/2019 Vatican Reaffirms Its Opposition to the Death Penalty Vatican City

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VaticanReaffirms its Opposition to the Death PenaltyVatican City, 12March 2015 (VIS) Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, oly S!! "!rman!nt #bs!rv!r at th! $nit!% &ations an% oth!rint!rnational or'aniations in !n!va 'av! an a%%r!ss at th! 2*th S!ssion o+ th! man -i'hts Concil on .March, r!'ar%in' th! iss! o+ th! %!ath p!nalty/

Speaking in English, the nuncio said, The Delegation of the Holy See joins an increasing

number of States in supporting the fifth U! "eneral #ssembly resolution calling for a globalmoratorium on the use of the death penalty $ublic opinion in support of the %arious pro%isionsaimed at abolishing the death penalty, or suspending its

Pictured: Front Row: 3rdfrom left: Sister Elizabeth Riebschlaeger joins group protesting

the death penalty at apitol! "ustin#"hoto by !++camphoto/

application, is gro&ing This pro%ides a strong momentum &hich this delegation hopes &illencourage States still applying the death penalty to mo%e in the direction of its abolition'

The archbishop e(plained that t&enty years ago, during the papacy of St )ohn $aul **,

the position of the Holy See &as framed &ithin the proper ethical conte(t of defending thein%iolable dignity of the human person and the role of the legitimate authority to defend in a justmanner the common good of society' He continued, +onsidering the practical circumstancesfound in most States, as a result of steady impro%ements in the organiation of the penal system,it appears e%ident no&adays that means other than the death penalty are sufficient to defendhuman li%es against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons -or thatreason, public authority must limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to theconcrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity &ith the dignity of thehuman person'

.enedict /0* affirmed in 1233 that the political and legislati%e initiati%es promoted in agro&ing number of countries to eliminate the death penalty and to continue the substanti%eprogress made in conforming penal la& both to the human dignity of prisoners and the effecti%e

maintenance of public order are mo%ing in the right direction $ope -rancis has furtheremphasied that the legislati%e and judicial practice of the State authority must al&ays be guidedby the primacy of human life and the dignity of the human person', noting also the possibilityof judicial error and the use made by totalitarian and dictatorial regimes as a means ofsuppressing political dissidence or of persecuting religious and cultural minorities'

4espect for the dignity of e%ery human person and the common good are the t&o pillarson &hich the position of the Holy See has de%eloped These principles con%erge &ith a similarde%elopment in international human rights la& and jurisprudence 5oreo%er, &e should takeinto account that no clear positi%e effect of deterrence results from the application of the deathpenalty and that the irre%ersibility of this punishment does not allo& for e%entual corrections inthe case of &rongful con%ictions'

Therefore, the Holy See contends that bloodless means of defending the common good

and upholding justice are possible, and calls on States to adapt their penal system todemonstrate their adhesion to a more humane form of punishment #s for those countries thatclaim it is not yet feasible to relin6uish this practice, my delegation encourages them to stri%e to

become capable of doing so'*n conclusion, the Holy See delegation fully supports the efforts to abolish the use of the

death penalty *n order to arri%e at this desired goal, these steps need to be taken7 sustaining thesocial reforms that &ould enable society to implement the abolition of the death penalty andimpro%ing prison conditions, to ensure respect for the human dignity of people depri%ed of theirfreedom'

7/21/2019 Vatican Reaffirms Its Opposition to the Death Penalty Vatican City

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