Pickabacking my post on the execution of Johnney Ray Conner and Alexham’s post on Justice Anthony Scalia, I would like to post on an important document that was just realized by the Vatican. On August 21st, the Agenzia Fides of the Pontifical Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples issued a 13-page dossier on the death penalty. The dossier describes the various faces of capital punishment around the world, reports which nations have abolitioned its use and which maintain it, and sketches the manner in which the Church understands that biblical and historical teachings on the death penalty require the element of practical states of affairs in evaluating the moral licitness of administering the death penalty. The Church’s mind on the question is quite plain.
Here is part of the dossier’s introduction:
Decapitation. Firing Squad. Hanging. Lethal Injection. Stoning. Electrocution. Dagger.
These are some of the methods with which – according to facts elaborated by organisations which deal with the issue of capital punishment – thousands of men and women were murdered by States during the year 2006: executions were performed – according to the official reports, although it must be kept in mind that many countries fail to provide reliable facts – of at least 1,591 persons in 25 countries (other sources speak of at least 5.000 executions during 2006) and death penalties were inflicted on at least 3,861 people in 55 countries.It is estimated that at least 20,000 prisoners are on death row, waiting to be put to death by the State.
Here is the dossier’s list of nation’s and their current use of the death penalty:
Information with regard to the death penality in 2006.
1 January 2007:
88 countries abolished the death penalty for any crime;
11 countries abolished it except for crimes in time of war;
29 countries are abolitionists de facto, because no executions have been registered there for at least ten years or because they have made an international commitment not to carry out death sentences.
A total 128 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, whereas 69 countries still maintain capital punishment in force, but executions are carried out only in very few countries.
In 2006, 91% of all reported executions happened in 6 countries; Kuwait has the highest number of executions per head in the world, followed by Iran. Despite the fact that international Treaties prohibit the application of the death penalty for minor offenders, since 1990 NGOs and UN sources have documented executions of minors in nine countries.
Situation by country
Abolitionist (countries which have abolished capital punishment):
Andorra, Angola, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cyprus, Vatican City, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Philippines, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Djibouti, Greece, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Ireland, Iceland, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Italy, Kiribati, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldavia, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niue, Norway, New Zealand, Holland, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Czech Republic Dominican Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Samoa, Republic di San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spagna, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, East Timor, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, Hungary, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela.
Abolitionist in fact (countries where capital punishment is still in force but no executions have been held for ten years, or a moratorium on executions has been introduced):
Algeria, Benin, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Congo, Russian Federation, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Maldives, Malati, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Nauru, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Central-African Republic, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia.
Maintained for exceptional crimes (for example war crimes):
Albania, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Fiji, Cook Islands, Israel, Latvia, Peru.
Maintained (countries where the death penalty is in force):
Africa:
Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Comores, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea Equatorial, Lesotho, Libya, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
America:
Antigua y Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominique, Jamaica, Guatemala, Guyana, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, United States of America, Trinidad and Tobago.
Asia:
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, India, Indonesia, Kazakistan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, Tajkistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.
Europe:
Belo Russia.
Middle East:
Saudi Arabia, Palestinian Authorities, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Syria, Yemen.
The dossier notes Pope John Paul II’s observations that the practical situations in many nations today, which the 2000 year Catholic teaching on the death penalty demands must be taken into account, renders the use of the death penalty immoral and illicit. It also notes the work of the USCCB in calling the United States to a greater reverence for human life.
“The death penality is cruel and unnecessary”
At the initiative of Pope John Paul II – who in the Evangelium vitae, in 1995, treated the issue (www.vatican.va) – on 12 February 2001, capital punishment, not foreseen for any crime since 1967 at the initiative of Pope Paul VI, was removed from Basic Law.
During his homily at the Mass for the conclusion of the Special Synod of Bishops for America, on 23 January 1999, John Paul II said this : “There must be an end to the unnecessary recourse to the death penalty! ”.
During his visit to the United States on 27 January 1999 Pope John Paul II said: “New evangelisation calls on Christ’s disciples to be unconditionally pro life. Modern society has the means to protect itself without denying criminals the opportunity to redeem themselves. The death penalty is cruel and unnecessary and this is true even for someone who has done something very wrong”.
In April 2001, intervening with regard to the case of Timothy MacVeigh who on 19 April 1995 blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, Pope John Paul II said “not even the life of a terrorist is in the hands of man”.
The stance of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The Pope’s appeal was followed by a message to Bush from the Catholic Archbishop of Indianapolis Daniel Buechlein, in which, among others things, the prelate said: “Naturally we will not deal with the legal aspect, we simply underline the necessity to promote a culture of life. The death penalty only feeds feelings of revenge”.
This message was followed by a statement made public on 2 May 2001 by Cardinal Roger Mahony Archbishop of Los Angeles, and Archbishop William Keeler of Baltimora, and approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, with regard to the MacVeigh affair.
Heated and widespread debate on the death penalty was seen in the United States and the rest of the world, following the events of 11 September 2001. However precisely those facts consolidated awareness not to respond to that horror even with the death of one person.
In 2005, the USCCB approved – con 237 votes in favour and 4 against – a statement on the death penalty in which the Bishops affirmed among other things: “When the state in our names and with our taxes ends a human life despite having non lethal alternatives it suggests that society can overcome violence with violence. The use of the death penalty ought to be abandoned not only for what it does to those who are executed but for what it does to all of society”. (www.nccbuscc.org). It should also be said that the issue of capital punishment has been raised several times at the United Nations Assembly by the Holy See representative to the United Nations.
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