The Death Penalty Discussion within The Reality of Catholic Teaching
Which Rung Do You Stand on?
In the aftermath of the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith in the state of Alabama, some discussion surfaced on the Catholic teaching of the death penalty.
For the record, I am anti-death penalty and the Vatican is against it as well and has been for some time. Pope Francis made it official teaching that the Church does not support capital punishment. He follows on the foundation set by Pope John Paul II who declared that it can only be used when there is no alternative and said that basically, such a condition does not exist in our world today. (cf Evangelium Vitae #56)
My reasoning against the death penalty is that we have a duty to do all we can to lead people to salvation and we take from that person whom the state executes the time needed to repent.
The current discussion on X centers around the comments of a fairly young priest. Ordained in 2019, he seems to serve in middle-class suburban, Catholic parishes since his ordination. I am a polyglot and city priest. Those who consistently work in cities see things from different perspectives.
Church’s past support for the death penalty
The discussion centers around past Church teaching supporting a country’s right to execute criminals. It also seems to disregard the developments in Catholic doctrine in the late 20th Century and early twenty-first to end the church’s support for it.
At times the discussion on X became ugly. With one anti-death penalty person noting that the priest had 666 followers and another calling someone “vile” over the discussion. Neither observation serves anyone.
Still many are missing one important point about Church teaching.
Yes, it is true the Church is against the death penalty currently and did support it in the past. Those who support it disregard the latest developments and embrace the older traditions. However, it seems they miss one thing: If you follow Church teaching to the letter then you will live to the letter the minimum standard of Church teaching.
Everything the Church teaches that says you can do certain things such as killing in self-defense and even going to war in extreme circumstances is the minimum standard. If we truly want to live our Catholic faith, we may seek to live above that standard but never below it. This is one of the dangers in our Church brought out by those who can cite documents and statements on what they demand others believe. They cite what the church considers the line we must not cross but that line is a low bar not a high one.
The last three popes raised the low bar. The high bar is still there which is to do all you can that all can be saved. If you want to cite Church teaching for the centuries prior to the pontificate of Pope St. John Paul II and proclaim your support of the death penalty, then remember you are standing on the lowest rung, which Pope Francis removed, on the Catholic ladder of spiritual doctrine.
Do not rely on Aquinas
The same goes for those who cite St. Thomas Aquinas in his support of the death penalty. I am sure he would see it as a low rung as well and would be appalled by the practice of using his words to promote the minimum standard of Church teaching. Remember, he understood that all he wrote was nothing but straw compared to the great mysteries and depth of the truth that is God.
In Question XLII, Article Four, St. Thomas Aquinas addresses a seemingly irrelevant issue: Why did not Jesus write anything down? He drew the answer from St. Augustine who cites the last line in the Gospel of John. John explains that Jesus did and said so many things that there would not be enough room in the whole world for all that writing. (John 21:25)
Both Aquinas and Augustine taught that Jesus did not want anything written in stone besides what already was—the Ten Commandments. Each generation had to learn the truths more deeply as they developed the capacity to do so. Augustine taught, according to Aquinas, what John refers to in the books and the need for more space than was available was the growth of human understanding.
. . .On account of the excellence of Christ’s doctrine, which cannot be expressed in writing; according to John 21:25: There are also many other things which Jesus did: which, if they were written, everyone, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written. Which Augustine explains by saying: We are not to believe that in respect of space the world could not contain them: … but that by the capacity of the readers they could not be comprehended. And if Christ had committed His doctrine to writing, men would have had no deeper thought of His doctrine than that which appears on the surface of the writing.[1] (Question XLII Article Four) ephasis not in publication
So to cite Aquinas is fine but is also to do what neither he and Augustine believed in which is to use a set of doctrines set in stone that could not be more deeply understood as the generations passed. It is important to note here that the issue is not a change in doctrine but a deeper understanding of it.
Be wary of Catholic Sola Scriptura
This is the principle the popes understood but those influenced by the Sola Scriptura teaching of the Protestant Reformation do not. So they use the same practice introduced by Luther but with Catholic documents and scripture instead of scripture alone. They even cite Aquinas as the authority set in stone. He would have outright rejected it as he does in the Summa Theologica. Again, he would have called for a deeper understanding of the truths, which is what Pope Francis does.
Meanwhile, many Catholics act outside the realm of charity in their argument over whether or not we should support the death penalty. They resort to name-calling and other techniques to prove they are right and the other is wrong. That is not Catholic practice either, it is below the minimum standard.
The best way to address the argument is to understand that John Paul II, Francis and even Benedict did not believe it should be practiced and Catholics needed to understand their appeal to charity and the dignity of the human person. If there are people who demand to embrace the words of previous leaders and say it is within church teaching, let them. However, you can remind them that they are standing on the lowest rung of the ladder of Catholic teaching and on the ladders that exist in Pope Francis’ pontificate that rung is not there.
If you truly seek holiness you have to stand on a higher rung and invite others to do the same. This was the standard Jesus set as well.
Fr. Robert Carr is the pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Allston, MA
He hosts the parish podcast at Catholicaudiomedia.com heard locally on WROL 950 AM at 3 pm and WEZE 590 AM at Midnight and 3 am.
[1] Thomas Aquinas. (n.d.). Summa theologica (Fathers of the English Dominican Province, Trans.). Burns Oates & Washbourne.
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