History of the Catholic Church on the Death Penalty - Research Paper Example

? Topic:  History of the Catholic church on the death penalty and how it has changed over time Introduction Death penalty otherwise known as capital punishment has been prevalent in Europe since long time and was considered as inhumane and ineffective. Human are the only specie in which it is common for one member to kill another .Death penalty is a punishment given to people who have committed intense crime. Punishment is not the activity of natural forces but of the people. But when it comes to death penalty there is implication of moral and ethical context related to it. What amount or kind of punishment is publicly justifiable and can make it principle and standard is a question rising in the minds of many people. It is only principle that can definitely assign both the quantity and quality of a just penalty. A crime deserves punishment but the punishment given depends on the gravity of the crime. Many people have mixed reviews on death penalty and most of them are against this kind of punishment. Death penalty abolishment has it s roots in the liberal utilitarian government and humanistic ideas spawned by the enlightenment in Europe at the end of eighteenth century. Utilitarian believed that punishment should not be worse than crime and hence was against death penalty. Same is the case with Catholic Church as Bible preached killing as a sin. Jesus was against death penalty and so was Pope John Paul. U.S. Catholic bishops were against death penalty and reminded the fellow Christians to remember the teaching of Christ and condemn death penalty. The Concept of Death Penalty Death penalty is of ancient origin. Death penalty otherwise known as capital punishment has its meaning derived from Latin word “head punishment”. Capital punishment is a procedure where in beheading is done to the criminal as a method of execution. The death penalty has its origin in England and was transported to American colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries. The death penalty has existed in American soil for almost four centuries and has given way to 20,000 executions. The capital crime in those days were quiet long and the proportion of offenders actually executed were uncertain.Untill the end of 18th century there was no opposition to death penalty in America. The death penalty is the oldest form of punishment known to human kind. Death penalty existed even before criminal law was formulated and when aristocratic rule existed. Death penalty was a common practice in England during the time of writing constitution. According to death penalty the criminal is killed by being shot, hung or beheading. However most of the states in America preferred to execute the criminals by hanging. According to (Dunehew)“In 1972, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down every state death penalty statute in the nation, it was declared to be “cruel and unusual punishment” and a violation of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution”. Death penalty gives importance to human life and punishes people who take life of others. Murdering someone is against the law of God and it can be compensated only by giving hard punishment to the guilty. History of Death Penalty During seventeenth and eighteenth century, the English colonist implemented death penalty as punishment for various crimes which might look shocking today. It was given for crimes like treason, rape, burglary, manslaughter, robbery, counterfeiting, theft and arson. All these became capital crime in American colonies as well. The colonial American considered theft as same as murder and all were counted in the same hierarchy and given capital punishment. In that century, life was cheap and times were rude. The people of seventeenth century were greatly influenced by political and religious views and did not think independently. Colonial Americans were not blindly following death penalty but understood the reason and purpose it served. The North American colonial law was variant from English law as it was more lenient than the latter. In England, murder and rape was given death penalty but in North America rape was not given death penalty. When the New England lost their original sense of religious mission, they abandoned the death penalty for some of these moral crimes. Later during the period of slavery, the black slaves were subjected to death penalty for crimes such as rape, burning of house and conspiring to rebel. During the late eighteenth century people in America started to think about criminals like themselves .During nineteenth century, Americans became more virtuous and thought about the evil inflicted on criminals. People started to condemn capital punishment for less grave crimes and it was imposed on harsh crimes and murdering. Catholic Church View on Death Penalty in ancient times The history of the use of death penalty is an extraordinary act of human kind which involved religion at every step. The deep involvement of Christian church leaders over the centuries in the practice of destruction of human life was seen in the ancient time itself. An obvious problem which makes capital punishment different from other issue is the predicament of Bible about this concept. The Christians widely accepted capital punishment as normal because of it was accepted by Bible undoubtedly. Bible has sanctioned capital punishment in many instances and justified it as an ideal punishment in case of extreme crimes. In the history of Christian theological legitimating of the death penalty, Genesis 9:6 has probably been cited more frequently than any other text. For centuries it has been divine command to impose death penalty on people who conduct murder. It is believed that God imposed death penalty after the flood. The Christians in early times were in favor of death penalty but detest the people who carry it out. The Catholic Church believed in the common good of the society giving less importance to the good of a specific person. Bible is of the opinion that whoever takes a human life should be put to death. As per (Overberg)“The Church's teaching about the death penalty, reflecting this ambiguity, has changed several times. The early Church generally found taking human life to be incompatible with the life and teachings of Jesus”. In the early times Christian elders supported death penalty as it was supported by the Bible verses. Until the middle of twentieth century, the Catholic Church generally agreed that the state law had the right and duty to impose the death penalty on certain heinous crimes. After the second world war the, Pius XII clearly supported the death penalty in address to jurists and doctors. The same position was agreed by the Roman Catechism and many other catechism, manuals of theology, reference works and the likes. They had a perception that capital punishment was legitimate. An increasing number of catholic theologians have opposed the death penalty since World War II because of the notorious abuse of criminal justice by Nazis and Stalinist Russia. The traditional teaching of church has acknowledged that right and duty of the public authority to punish people who perform crime and if the gravity of crime is intense, they should be given death penalty. However Pope John Paul II had a slightly different point of view on death penalty. He claimed that the crime should be properly evaluated before punishment is imposed on the criminal. On his visit to St. Louis in 1999, Pope characterized death penalty as both unnecessary and cruel. “Besides making doctrinal pronouncements, the pope and the U.S. bishops have regularly pleaded for clemency in the case of criminals being executed”(Owens 25). Catholic Church view on death penalty in twentieth century In 1975 the Catholic Church in America took a position against capital punishment. In 1970s the catholic bishops have issued a series of statements against capital punishment but the position of the church received attention only in late 1990s.Although absolute opposition on the death penalty is not a doctrine position of catholic church, the church has been extremely outspoken on this issue. The Pope’s opposition to the death penalty is unknown to most of the Americans but it was not a novel issue. The Roman Catholic Church, the largest Christian body both in America and world and also oppose death penalty in virtually all circumstances. In 1969, Roman Catholic authorities removed the Vatican from the capital punishment provision of the Italian criminal code. Recently many catholic bishops in America have showed their opposition for death penalty. For much of the history Roman Catholic Church supported capital punishment. However, support has gradually dwindled among Catholics worldwide. A strong impetus for abandoning the death penalty stems from Pope John Paul II’s Evangelism Vitae and changes made to the catechism of the Catholic Church to make it consistent with pope’s earlier pronouncement. Pope claimed death penalty a along with euthanasia and abortion, foster a culture of death. Pope demanded that death penalty should not be used unless in cases of absolute necessity. In the past Catholic churches has favored capital punishment on the grounds of retributive justice. However in the newer catechism the rationale emphasize self defense, not retribution. There can be seen a recent shift in the view of catechism as Roman catholic discuss death penalty from the context of legitimate punishment to the context of self defense. In other sense the catechism deliberately reconceived the legitimacy in terms of the state authority to defend life against the unjust aggressor rather that in terms of redressing the disorder in the society caused by grave crime. Today many religious group including Catholic Church groups support the idea of abolishing death penalty. Much of the debate over the death penalty revolves around the religious and moral question that might never be resolved to people’s satisfaction. Ever since the enlightenment opposition to capital punishment has grown in all countries of European Union it has been removed from the instruments of law. In his book (Flinn 128) writes that “Today many bishops are actually challenging the state’s right to inflict the capital punishment on criminals. They have been fortified in their argument by Pope John Paul II’s Evangelism Vitae which comes close to the ban of capital punishment”. In 1980, the U.S. catholic Bishops conference issued a statement on capital punishment. It acknowledged the state’s right to inflict capital punishment but challenged the exercise of that right on the basis that “the abolition of the death penalty would promote the values that are important to us as citizens and as Christians”. Catholic Church considers that death penalty goes against the dignity of human kind and the society should avoid death penalty as a respect to human life. Conclusion In the early times, the Catholic Church was in favor of death penalty and believed that murdered should be given apt punishment for their heinous crime. It is necessary to impose punishment on people who conduct crime in order to maintain the social order in the society. There should be an effective way to defend the society but it should not be taken with vengeance. In 1990s Catholic Church has promoted much awareness among American citizens to abolish capital punishment. Catholic leaders promoted catholic teaching that characterize death penalty as inappropriate and unacceptable punishment for crimes. The church authorities attempted to spread the Christian teaching to the state lawmakers in order to bring appropriate changes in the legislation and judicial policies. Catholic Church regards human life from the point to conception as a thing to be treated with dignity. Bible teaches the verse that “an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth”. Catholic Church believes that every life is precious and no one has the right to take the life of another deliberately. Catholic authorities believe in moral and ethical values and want the government authority to treat life in a humanistic manner. The Pope John Paul has demanded that death penalty should be imposed after clearly evaluating the gravity of the crime. He argues that death penalty is a punishment which is rude and is an unnecessary practice. They claim that a government should aim at the goodness of the whole society rather than the good of a specific person. Imposing punishment on criminals is not unethical but it should be understood that punishment should not be worse than the crime itself. References Dunehew, Glenn. "What about capital punishment." Forerunner. N.p., Mar. Web. 9 Sept. 2011. . Flinn, Frank K. Encyclopedia of Catholicism. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2007. 128. Print. Owens, Erick C. Religion and the death penalty: a call for reckoning. Cambridge: B.Erdmans Publishing, 2004. 25. Print. Overberg, Kimberley R. "Respect Life: The Bible and the Death Penalty Today." American Catholic. Americal Catholic Org, Oct. Web. 9 Sept. 2011. . Read More