Pope Leo XIV: "The death penalty is inadmissible"

"The death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolability and dignity of the person. The common good can be protected and the requirements of justice can be safeguarded without resorting to capital punishment: effective detention systems have been developed, which protect citizens, but, at the same time, do not completely deprive the guilty of the possibility of redeeming themselves". The Pope states this on X, adding to his message, on today's World Day against the Death Penalty.

Parolin: "The Church is in total opposition to the death penalty"

"The spectacularization of death is not acceptable, no matter how obviously the person is guilty, but there are other systems, it is incomprehensible." Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said this when commenting on the Pentagon's decision to live stream Nidal Hassan's death sentence by firing squad. "The thought of the Church is in total opposition to the death penalty," he reiterated on the sidelines of an event on John Henry Newman.