Death Penalty

• Passages on the Death Penalty from Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)
  Pope John Paul II, 1995

• Recent Statements on the Death Penalty

• The Death Penalty and the Catechism

• Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice
  A Statement of the Catholic Bishops of the United States
  November 2000
  
  
• A Good Friday Appeal to End the Death Penalty: A Statement of the Administrative Board of the U.S. Catholic Conference
  April 2, 1999
  
  
• USCC Statement, 1980
  
  
• Statement on Capital Punishment
  Archbishop Joseph L. Bernardin
  January 26, 1977
  
  Communication Resources

• Suggested Talking Points When Dealing with the Media
  
  
• Bulletin Inserts for the Death Penalty

Additional Information

• Resources to End the Death Penalty
  
  
• Information about the Federal Death Penalty and Federal Executions
  
  
• "Pro-Life, Anti-Death Penalty?"
  By James R. Kelly and Christopher Kudlac
  AMERICA for Apr. 1, 2000
  
  
• Testimony by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Chairman, Committee for Pro-Life Activities, National Conference of Catholic Bishops on behalf of the United States Catholic Conference to the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate
  Washngton, D.C., September 28. 1989

The life and words of Jesus Christ invite reflection on the death penalty. As Christians, we remember the Lord's passion and death, in which the Roman Empire executed one who was completely innocent by means of crucifixion.

To what extent are innocent people executed today? This important question is the subject of serious consideration in the United States today. Concern about executing innocent people influenced the Massachusetts House of Representatives vote on March 12, 2001, which prevents the death penalty from being reinstated in Massachusetts. While death is not a possible penalty for the violation of Massachusetts state laws, death is a possible penalty for the violation of some federal laws. Concern about the federal government executing innocent people has led U.S. Senators and Representatives to introduce a bill entitled The Innocence Protection Act on March 7, 2001. One way to be involved in the public discussion about the death penalty is to write to Congress.

While Jesus's life invites reflection on the execution of innocent people, his words challenge Christians to consider how to respond to one who has broken a law for which the penalty is death. Jesus prevented the woman caught in adultery from being stoned to death in accordance with the law (Jn 8:2-11). He affirmed her life and called for her conversion.

Proclaiming the Gospel of life, the Catholic bishops of the United States, in communion with John Paul II, have called for the elimination of the death penalty. One recent expression of this followed an evaluation of crime and criminal justice in the United States in a statement entitled Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice.