Changes

In recent decades, however, officials within the Catholic Church have taken differing stances on the death penalty.

In recent decades, however, officials within the Catholic Church have taken differing stances on the death penalty.

The renowned Modern Catholic Dictionary (1980) by John A. Hardon, S.J., which was given the "imprimatur" (official endorsement) by Joseph T. O'Keefe, Vicar General, Archdiocese of New York (Dec. 13, 1979), describes the Catholic position of capital punishment as follows:

The renowned Modern Catholic Dictionary (1980) by John A. Hardon, S.J., which was given the "imprimatur" (official endorsement) by Joseph T. O'Keefe, [[Vicar]] General, Archdiocese of New York (Dec. 13, 1979), describes the Catholic position of capital punishment as follows:

:It is certain from Scripture that civil authorities may lawfully put malefactors to death.  ...  Christian dispensation made no essential change [to the Old Testament endorsement of the death penalty], as St. Paul expressly says .... [citing Romans 13:4].  Among the errors of the Waldenses condemned by the Church in the early thirteenth century was the proposition that denied the lawfulness of capital punishment (Argentre, ''Collectio de Novis Erroribus'', I, 86).  St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) defends capital punishment on the grounds of the common good. ...  If even with capital punishment crime abounds, no lesser penalty will suffice.  The practice question remains of how effective a deterrent capital punishment is in some modern states, when rarely used or only after long delays.  In principle, however, it is morally licit because in the most serious crimes the claims of retribution and deterrence are so demanding that the corrective value of punishment must, if necessary, be sacrificed.

:It is certain from Scripture that civil authorities may lawfully put malefactors to death.  ...  Christian dispensation made no essential change [to the Old Testament endorsement of the death penalty], as St. Paul expressly says .... [citing Romans 13:4].  Among the errors of the Waldenses condemned by the Church in the early thirteenth century was the proposition that denied the lawfulness of capital punishment (Argentre, ''Collectio de Novis Erroribus'', I, 86).  St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) defends capital punishment on the grounds of the common good. ...  If even with capital punishment crime abounds, no lesser penalty will suffice.  The practice question remains of how effective a deterrent capital punishment is in some modern states, when rarely used or only after long delays.  In principle, however, it is morally licit because in the most serious crimes the claims of retribution and deterrence are so demanding that the corrective value of punishment must, if necessary, be sacrificed.