Pope Francis calls for abolition of death penalty worldwide in new encyclical

Pope Francis has called for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty as it is “inadmissible” in the catechism of the Catholic Church.

In a new encyclical titled “Fratelli Tutti,” citing Saint John Paul II, Pope Francis said the death penalty is “inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice.”

“There can be no stepping back from this position. Today we state clearly that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible’ and the Church is firmly committed to calling for its abolition worldwide,” the encyclical read.

Pope Francis also said carrying out the death penalty on offenders is an act of revenge rather than justice.

“Fear and resentment can easily lead to viewing punishment in a vindictive and even cruel way, rather than as part of a process of healing and reintegration into society.”

He also stressed that “it is impossible to imagine that States today have no other means than capital punishment to protect the lives of other people from the unjust aggressor.”

“Particularly serious in this regard are so-called extrajudicial or extralegal executions, which are ‘homicides deliberately committed by certain states and by their agents, often passed off as clashes with criminals or presented as the unintended consequences of the reasonable, necessary and proportionate use of force in applying the law,” the Pope said.

Further, he urged all Christians and people of good will to work not only for the abolition of the capital punishment, but also to work for the improvement of prison conditions “out of respect for the human dignity of persons deprived of their freedom.”

“I would link this to life imprisonment… A life sentence is a secret death penalty,” he said.

“The firm rejection of the death penalty shows to what extent it is possible to recognize the inalienable dignity of every human being and to accept that he or she has a place in this universe,” he added.

In his fifth State of the Nation Address in July, President Rodrigo Duterte renewed his call for the passage of the death penalty for drug-related offenses.

Duterte said the death penalty will be for crimes provided under the 2002 Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. He added that the revival of the bill "will help us deter criminality and save our children posed by the illegal and dangerous drugs."

In the 17th Congress, House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill 4727 which seeks to reimpose capital punishment on seven drug-related offenses.

In the current 18th Congress, at least 10 bills calling for the reimposition of death penalty have been filed in the Senate but the committee on justice has yet to hear it. Similar bills have also been fined in the House of Representatives but these are still pending in the committee.—AOL, GMA News