{"id":1046,"date":"2012-09-11T18:06:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-11T18:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/"},"modified":"2012-09-11T18:06:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-11T18:06:00","slug":"archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/","title":{"rendered":"Archbishop Chaput urges end to capital punishment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Philadelphia, Pa., Sep 11, 2012 \/ 12:06 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Ahead of the possible execution of three convicts on Pennsylvania\u2019s death row, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia has called for an end to the death penalty.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAs children of God, we're better than this, and we need to start acting like it. We need to end the death penalty now,\u201d he said in his Sept. 10 weekly column.<\/p>\n

\tHe said capital punishment \u201csimply doesn\u2019t work\u201d as a deterrent, but answers \u201cviolence with violence\u201d that implicates all citizens. The death penalty does not heal or redress wounds \u201cbecause only forgiveness can do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tIn August the governor signed execution warrants for four men, though a judge stayed one of the warrants. Any of the three remaining convicts could be the first to be executed in Pennsylvania in 13 years.<\/p>\n

\tThe archbishop said that avoiding capital punishment does not diminish support for murder victims\u2019 families, who bear \u201ca terrible burden of grief\u201d and \u201crightly demand justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHowever, even justly convicted murderers \u201cretain their God-given dignity as human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhen we take a murderer's life we only add to the violence in an already violent culture, and we demean our own dignity in the process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tArchbishop Chaput cited the case of Terrance Williams, a death row inmate he said is \u201cindisputably guilty\u201d of the 1984 murder of Amos Norwood which Williams committed when he was 18. Williams\u2019 lawyers contended he had been sexually abused by the man he murdered, while state attorneys have said that those claims have been rejected after judicial review.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cTerrance Williams deserves punishment,\u201d Archbishop Chaput said. \u201cNo one disputes that. But he doesn't need to die to satisfy justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBoth Scripture and Catholic tradition support capital punishment \u201cunder certain limited conditions,\u201d the archbishop said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBut the Church has repeatedly called us to a higher road over the past five decades. We don't need to kill people to protect society or punish the guilty. And we should never be eager to take anyone's life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tArchbishop Chaput said the death penalty cannot be justified \u201cexcept in the most extreme circumstances\u201d and should have \u201cno place in our public life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Philadelphia, Pa., Sep 11, 2012 \/ 12:06 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Ahead of the possible execution of three convicts on Pennsylvania’s death row, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia has called for an end to the death penalty.<\/p>\n

\t“As chil…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nArchbishop Chaput urges end to capital punishment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Philadelphia, Pa., Sep 11, 2012 \/ 12:06 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Ahead of the possible execution of three convicts on Pennsylvania’s death row, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia has called for an end to the death penalty. “As chil...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Archbishop Chaput urges end to capital punishment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Philadelphia, Pa., Sep 11, 2012 \/ 12:06 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Ahead of the possible execution of three convicts on Pennsylvania’s death row, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia has called for an end to the death penalty. “As chil...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-11T18:06:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/\",\"name\":\"Archbishop Chaput urges end to capital punishment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-11T18:06:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-11T18:06:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Philadelphia, Pa., Sep 11, 2012 \/ 12:06 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Ahead of the possible execution of three convicts on Pennsylvania’s death row, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia has called for an end to the death penalty. “As chil...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Archbishop Chaput urges end to capital punishment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Archbishop Chaput urges end to capital punishment","description":"Philadelphia, Pa., Sep 11, 2012 \/ 12:06 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Ahead of the possible execution of three convicts on Pennsylvania’s death row, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia has called for an end to the death penalty. “As chil...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Archbishop Chaput urges end to capital punishment","og_description":"Philadelphia, Pa., Sep 11, 2012 \/ 12:06 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Ahead of the possible execution of three convicts on Pennsylvania’s death row, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia has called for an end to the death penalty. “As chil...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2012-09-11T18:06:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/","name":"Archbishop Chaput urges end to capital punishment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-09-11T18:06:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-11T18:06:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Philadelphia, Pa., Sep 11, 2012 \/ 12:06 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Ahead of the possible execution of three convicts on Pennsylvania’s death row, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia has called for an end to the death penalty. “As chil...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/archbishop-chaput-urges-end-to-capital-punishment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Archbishop Chaput urges end to capital punishment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}