Catholic Church on the Death Penalty

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Catholic Church on the Death Penalty
Outline
Thesis: The history of the Catholic Church on death penalty illustrates that administering this sort of punishment does not bring about any positive outcomes in the society in context of religion. This forms the premise of this paper and not the legitimacy of the practice. Overall, the Catholic Church should cease support for the death penalty entirely.
* Introduction
* History of the Catholic Church on Death penalty
* Emergent Trends among Catholics perceptions/ views on death penalty
1 The Death penalty is against teachings of Jesus Christ
2 Pope John Paul II indicated the practice to be immoral and undervaluing human life.
* The Bible on Death penalty
1 Misconception of the experience of Ananias and Sapphira
* The Catechism and Catholic leadership on Death penalty
1 American Catholics Bishops association has come out to oppose the practice to some level.
* Modernization and Age of Enlightenment on Death penalty
1 Christians around the world are changing their views about capital punishment and putting pressure on the Catholic Church to fully denounce and refute the practice.
* Conclusion
Catholic Church on the Death Penalty
Introduction
The death penalty refers to execution of persons involved in gross criminal offenses by the state or judicial organs as a form of punishment. Criminal offenses that result in death penalty are referred to as capital offenses or capital crimes. From the time of the inception of the early church, Christians did not express opposition to the idea of Death Penalty. Today most religious organizations, including the Catholic Church, are inclined to object this very idea, which ironically is what happened to Jesus Christ- the initiator of Christianity as well as many other martyrs involved with the Christian faith. The underlying premise in studying the history of this subject matter with regards to the Catholic Church remains if administering death penalty brings about any positive outcomes in the society in context of religion as opposed to the legitimacy of the practice.
History of the Catholic Church on Death Penalty
The past few decades have witnessed a lot of contention among the Catholic faithful regarding the topic of death penalty. It remains largely unclear and confusing what the Catholic Church’s final stand on this subject matter is, with a sizable portion of Catholics claiming the church has finally relinquished its support for the capital punishment (death penalty). It has been argued that supporting this form of legal action goes long way in contravening the church’s moral standing, considering that Christianity is about securing value for human life, forgiveness and amendment of human behavior for the better (Dulles, 1). In fact, Jesus Christ’s teachings were directed to wrongdoers, those in need of spiritual and ...