Excerpts from "Death is not the Answer: A Reaffirmation of Opposition to Capital Punishment," issued February 15, 1994 by the Catholic Bishops of New York State. Printed in the newsletter of Catholics Against Capital Punishment, March 14, 1994 edition.
"The death penalty is no more the answer for violent crime
than abortion is the answer for unplanned pregnancies.
Death is never the answer."
As teachers and pastors, we are called to proclaim a set of moral principles known as Catholic social teaching. At the heart of this teaching is the knowledge that the human person is central, the clearest
reflection of God among us. Every person possesses a basic dignity that comes from God, not from any human quality or accomplishment, not from race or gender or age or economic status. Human life is
inherently precious.
Those who commit crimes do not give up their human dignity, and those who administer justice must not deny this God-given dignity. All human beings are known and loved by God and are called to know and love God.
St. Paul reminds us that there is absolutely nothing in heaven or on earth which can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8:35-39). No person is beyond God's redemptive mercy.
Therefore, just as we see the love of God, the value of life, and human dignity in an innocent child from the moment of conception, we must learn to see the love of God, the value of life, and human dignity in a guilty
criminal, even as we condemn the criminal act.
The death penalty is an affront to the human dignity of both those on whom it is inflicted and those in whose name it is employed. A state-sanctioned penalty of death makes the individual on whom it is inflicted a
means to an end--a means of satisfying a desire for revenge. Human persons, because of their absolute and unconditional value, may never be used as a means. For the community at large, those in whose name it is
imposed, the death penalty radically ends our call to caring, concern, and love for our fellow human being. Capital punishment is a particularly egregious violation of our dignity as citizens because it is our government,
acting on behalf of each of us in this representative democracy, involved in the business of killing. Killing our brothers and sisters is a rejection of God's call to "love one another as I have loved you."
Jesus teaches us mercy and compassion: "You have heard the commandment, 'An eye for and eye, a tooth for a tooth.' But what I say to you is: offer no resistance to injury. When a person strikes you on the right
cheek, turn and offer him the other. You have heard the commandment, 'You shall love your countryman but hate your enemy.' My command to you is love your enemies, pray for your persecutors. " (Matthew 5:38-44).
The government of a civilized society, through its laws, sets an example of how we are to live. Rather than maintaining public order and protecting the health and welfare of its citizens, a government which carries out
executions serves only to perpetuate the violence and destruction it seeks to end.
As a civilized society, we must struggle to find more humane, more hopeful and more effective responses to violent crime. The cycle of violence will only be broken when we begin to take personal responsibility for our
actions and to respond to individuals to the societal conditions which breed crime. We pledge to do all that we can, both pastorally and legislatively, to promote strong family life, mend broken homes, improve education,
provide more jobs, stop drug abuse, keep guns off the streets and lift the poor out of poverty.
It is not an easy solution: the right way never is. Capital punishment is the easy way out of addressing the complex, persuasive and expensive problems which surround us. The death penalty is no more the answer
for violent crime than abortion is the answer for unplanned pregnancies. Death is never the answer.
Every citizen has a responsibility to foster an attitude of respect for human life and to affirm the dignity of our sisters and brothers. As a society, our attempts to uphold human dignity and encourage respect for life will
be more consistent when we create a culture of peace and abolish capital punishment."
