RadioOnFire.com - One of Pope Francis' main priorities is abolishing the death penalty worldwide, and the Vatican made an announcement on Thursday (August 2), revealing that he has declared it wrong in all cases. Pope Francis explained that he finds all cases of the death penalty “an attack” on human dignity.
The move could likely shake things up in the U.S., where Catholic governors like Greg Abbott of Texas and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska have presided over executions. Countries with large populations of Catholics, including nearly every nation in Europe and Latin America, have abolished the death penalty.
While Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016, said that he didn't find the death penalty immoral, others believe Pope Francis' new teaching is binding. John Gehring, the Catholic program director at Faith in Public Life, a liberal-leaning advocacy group in Washington stated, “If you’re a Catholic governor who thinks the state has the right to end human life, you need to be comfortable saying you’re disregarding orthodox church teaching. There isn’t any loophole for you to wiggle through now.”
Source: nytimes.com
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