VATICAN VIEWS ON DEATH PENALTY ADVANCED

VATICAN, Jun 21, 01 (CWNews.com) -- A Vatican delegation will
take part in a European conference on the death penalty, held in
Strasbourg this week.

Msgr. Paul Gallagher, an English-born member of the Vatican
diplomatic corps, will head the delegation from the Holy See. The
conference is being organized by the European Union.

Vatican officials point out that there are now 108 countries that have
ceased to use capital punishment, and 75 that have abolished the
death penalty altogether. However, executions remain common in
some countries. According to Amnesty International, China was the
country that used the death penalty most frequently: 1,000 times in
the year 2000. The other countries that executed prisoners most
often last year were the United States (85), Iran (75), and Saudi
Arabia (63).

The Holy See has argued against the use of capital punishment.
During the Jubilee year Pope John Paul II asked for a moratorium on
executions. And the Pontiff has argued that the cases in which the
use of capital punishment is justifiable are "very rare, if not
practically non-existent."

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, clarifying Church
teaching on the subject, points out that the Church "does not
condemn the death penalty." However, the Congregation continues,
the Church "does not encourage its use." In fact, "this form of
punishment is not appropriate for today's society."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in the revised and definitive
edition that was published in 1997, teaches that the death penalty "is
not excluded" in principle, but in practice the necessary conditions do
not exist to justify its use.