(2 Aug 2018) The Vatican said on Thursday that Pope Francis has changed church teaching about the death penalty, saying it can never be sanctioned because it "attacks" the inherent dignity of all humans.
Pope Francis had changed the Catechism of the Catholic Church - the compilation of official Catholic teaching.
Previously, the catechism said the church didn't exclude recourse to capital punishment "if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor."
The new teaching says the previous policy is outdated and that there are other ways to protect society: "Consequently the church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that the death penalty is inadmissible."
Francis has long railed against the death penalty, insisting it can never be justified, no matter how heinous the crime. He has also long made prison ministry a mainstay of his vocation.
On nearly every foreign trip, Francis has visited with inmates to offer words of solidarity and hope, and he still stays in touch with a group of Argentine inmates he ministered to during his years as archbishop of Buenos Aires.
He announced his intention to change church teaching on capital punishment last October, when he marked the 25th anniversary of the publication of the catechism by announcing his intention to update it.
The catechism, first promulgated by St. John Paul II, gives Catholics an easy, go-to guide for church teaching on everything from the sacraments to sex.
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