The Catechism states, “The efforts of the state to curb the spread of behavior harmful to people’s rights and to the basic rules of civil society correspond to the requirement of safeguarding the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and the duty to inflict punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense” (#2266). Moreover, “…the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor” (#2267). (These citations are from the definitive Latin edition of the Catechism issued on September 8, 1997, which are modifications to the original text and reflect the teaching of the Pope John Paul’s encyclical The Gospel of Life.) To understand the Church’s position in this matter, we have to be clear about the foundational principles governing the teaching.
First, the state has the duty to preserve the common good and to protect its citizens from harm. Therefore, the state may declare and wage a just war against an aggressor outside of the community as well as recognize the individual’s legal right of self-defense. A state may also impose just penalties on those individuals who commit crimes and threaten the well-being of society.
Second, justice demands that punishment fit the crime– the penalty must be proportionate to the injury. In this way, punishment provides for proper retribution, deterrence, and reform. As a form of retribution, punishment restores the order of justice which the criminal violated. For example, if a criminal steals something, restitution must be made, such as the return of the stolen property. The criminal may also be deprived of certain freedoms through, for instance, incarceration or fines. Just retribution strives to heal the injury caused by the crime.
Along this line of thought, punishment ought to deter future crime. If justice is rendered fairly and swiftly, specific punishments for specific crimes ought to prevent further crime by either the criminal himself or others. Punishment should not only protect society from a particular criminal but also deter individuals from committing the same crime in the future.
In the end, the punishment of a criminal should incite his reform. The criminal being punished is hopefully moved to see the error of his ways, to repent, and to change his life.
Just punishment strives to balance all three perspectives– retribution, deterrence, and reform. Note also that in applying such punishment, the state must insure to the best of its ability that the person receives a fair trial and that only a legitimate authority impose any sentence.
Following this perspective of punishment, capital punishment may be used only for heinous crimes, crimes which shake the foundations of society and which would necessitate such a severe proportionate punishment. For example, the Old Testament laws permitted the use of capital punishment for serious sins: “If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has man been made” (Genesis 9:6) and “Whoever strikes a man a mortal blow must be put to death. When a man kills another after maliciously scheming to do so, you must take him even from my altar and put him to death” (Exodus 21:12, 14). However, capital crimes in the Old Testament included not just premeditated murder, but also kidnapping, cursing or striking of parents, sorcery, sodomy, bestiality, and idolatry. These sins were so heinous in the eyes of God and so threatening to the spiritual and physical welfare of the community that justice mandated capital punishment as proper retribution. The capital sentence could inspire reform: The condemned criminal, facing the loss of his life and knowing he will appear before God in judgment, would hopefully repent. The capital sentence could also deter future crime: Removed from society permanently and sent to God for divine justice, the criminal would never inflict injury again. St. Thomas Aquinas affirmed that if the good citizens “are protected and saved by the slaying of the wicked, then the latter may be lawfully put to death.” Moreover, the execution of a criminal could also deter others from committing like crimes and inspire their reform.
Please keep in mind the Old Testament does speak of God’s divine mercy: “As I live says the Lord God, I swear I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but rather in the wicked man’s conversion, that he may live” (Ezekiel 33:11). “That he may live” though may not so much focus on physical life as it does on the spiritual life, whereby the repentant sinner would avoid eternal punishment in hell.
Finally, capital punishment may be used to punish “malefactors,” i.e. people who freely choose to commit a heinous crime. St. Thomas Aquinas asserted that through sin, a man departs from the order of reason and falls away from the dignity of being an individual made in God’s image and likeness. A man who commits a heinous crime, he argued, is even worse than a brute beast and even more harmful. Such a man may be permanently extricated: Just as an infectious or diseased organ would be removed to preserve the health of the entire body, so a person who is dangerous or infectious to the community may be executed rather than corrupt or bring harm to the community.
Such a malefactor must be distinguished from an innocent person. Human life is indeed sacred in all forms and all times, and we as innocent human beings have a sacred right to life. However, the Church carefully underscores the inviolability of this right for “innocent life”: In the Declaration on Euthanasia (1980) the Church asserted, “Nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying,” and in the Declaration on Procured Abortion (1974) the Church asserted: “Divine law and natural reason, therefore, exclude all right to the direct killing of an innocent man.” Pope John Paul II in his recent encyclical The Gospel of Life confirmed, “…the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral” (#57). When a person freely commits such a heinous crime and is judged as a threat to society as a whole, that person relinquishes the right to life in this society, this time, this space.
Given this reasoning, the Catholic Church has upheld the right of the state to execute certain criminals. However, while recognizing the traditional teaching of the Church, the United States Catholic Bishop’s Conference issued their Statement on Capital Punishment (1980) and asserted, “…In the condition of contemporary American society, the legitimate purposes of punishment do not justify the imposition of the death penalty.” The Bishops raised several questions: Does the goal of retribution and the restoration of order justify capital punishment, even for heinous crimes? Does capital punishment successfully deter future crime? Could not imprisonment, including for life, just as effectively protect society from a criminal, provide a chance for his genuine reform, and deter future crime? Can we insure in our justice system sentences which are fair and not discriminatory? Does not capital punishment constitute a cruel punishment which brings anguish to the criminal and his family? Lastly, the Bishops pleaded that by abolishing capital punishment, society would break “the cycle of violence” and make a positive statement about the sanctity of human life and forgiveness.
Reflecting the teaching of Pope John Paul II’s The Gospel of Life, the Catechism also cautions, “If, however, nonlethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm– without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself– the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically non-existent” (#2267).
Given this teaching, many Catholics find ourselves agonizing over this issue. Those who support capital punishment because it deters crime can find corroborating sociological reports just like those who argue that it does not deter crime. While trials should be timely, inmates may be confined on death row for even twelve years as their various appeals are processed, a situation which weighs against the deterrence effect of punishment. Fairness in the trial process is another clear issue: we have seen in recent times that those defendants who can afford the “dream team” lawyers who perform before the media seem to have a clear advantage in the judicial process. Our prisons, reporting atrocious crimes within their confines and recidivism rates as high as 60% after release, have failed to reform most criminals.
Most troubling are the types of crimes that afflict innocent human beings. We face each day the actions of the McVeighs, Bundys, and Dahlmers. Some crimes are so brutal that one must ask, “What kind of a human being could possibly commit such a crime?” Perhaps some individuals have become so filled with evil, blinded to truth and good, and have no remorse for the crimes they have committed, that, as St. Thomas Aquinas would posit, they must be extricated from society like a diseased organ.
Moreover, capital sentences and executions are rare. In Virginia in 1994, there were 23,947 convictions for violent crime. Of these, 55 criminals were sentenced to death, or .2%. Moreover, only two criminals were executed, or .008%
Jurisdictions are now constructing state-of-the-art prisons which could eliminate the death penalty and effectively remove a criminal from society. Currently, the Commonwealth of Virginia is building two new “super maximum” security prisons, one at Big Stone Gap and one at Pound. Both will hold 1,267 inmates. Those in the special segregated population will be confined individually 23 hours a day in a 7-by-12 foot cell. The narrow slat for a window will have smoked glass so the prisoner cannot see outside the cell. The prisoner will have an exercise period of one hour a day, pacing by himself in a narrow concrete yard. These segregated prisoners will have no group activities and no educational or vocational programs. The worst criminals will have no reading materials. When visitors are allowed, no physical contact will be allowed. Does this hellish existence show love, promise reform, or reflect real improvements in our penal system, or uphold the dignity of the person?
Moreover, each year we hear of how criminals like Charles Manson are eligible for parole and could be allowed to return to society. Can there be true peace when families of victims and other citizens live in fear that the criminal may soon return?
The issue of capital punishment is very difficult indeed. We as Catholics do uphold the sanctity of human life. We also realize that at times life regrettably must be taken to establish peace and protect society– we must go to war, defend our own lives, and stop crime. The concerns surrounding capital punishment are real and must be continually addressed to insure justice. Any good Catholic– as a believer and as a citizen– must wrestle with these issues and decide what will best promote justice.