What is the Catholic Church's current teaching on the death penalty?
In 2018, the universal Catechism of the Catholic Church was formally revised under the authority of the Pope to state that the death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolability and dignity of the person.
While legitimate public authority formerly considered capital punishment an acceptable response to safeguard the common good when no other means existed, modern detention systems provide adequate security to protect society without depriving the guilty person of the possibility of redemption.
Today, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the human person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. Consequently, the Church teaches that the death penalty is inadmissible and works with determination for its abolition worldwide.
Sources
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2267
Awaiting review by the chaplaincy. Written in our own words; the Church's own texts are the authority.