What happened?
Pope Francis said that the death penalty “is, in itself, contrary to the Gospel.” At an event in the Vatican to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Catechism, Francis said that capital punishment is “inadmissible, because it attacks the inviolability and dignity of the person”.
The Catechism expressed strong disapproval of the death penalty, but said that Church teaching did not entirely rule it out. Pope Francis said the Catechism might have to be updated.
What the media said
Theologian John Cavadini told CNN that he was pleased. “I admire Pope Francis’s call for the abolition of the death penalty as a contribution to the seamless garment of pro-life ethics. State killing is not in keeping with the purposes of punishment or the norms of human dignity,” Cavadini said.
In the Guardian, Joanna Moorhead said there might be more controversy ahead. “Talk is now swirling in Rome that Francis means to overturn Catholic teaching on the ‘just war’ theory. He has already made statements that, for example, ‘faith and violence are incompatible’, and has spoken out many times against war,” Moorhead said. If the Pope decided to “change Catholic teaching” on the matter, she added, “he will put the cat well and truly among the pigeons” – and not only within the Church.
What the blogosphere said
Hold on, said Edward Feser at catholicherald.co.uk. The Pope can’t change teaching – as the First Vatican Council put it, the Pope is not supposed to “make known some new doctrine”. Several passages in the Bible “teach the legitimacy of capital punishment”, and the Fathers and Doctors of the Church – as well as every pope who has spoken on the subject – have said the death penalty is in theory permitted. A “clarification” is in order, Feser said.
At LMSchairman.com, Joseph Shaw argued that the Pope needed no clarification: his words clearly contradicted previous popes. Pius XII, for instance, taught that a criminal could be executed “when, by his crime, he has already disposed himself of his right to live”. So either Pius or Francis must have been wrong – which means that ultramontanism has become “absurd”.
✣Christians ‘face worst persecution in 2,000 years’
What happened?
A report from the British branch of Aid to the Church in Need argued that Christians today were more severely persecuted than at any other time in history, thanks to a spike in Islamist violence in Iraq, Syria and Nigeria. The report accused the United Nations and the international community of ignoring Christians’ plight.
Why was it under-reported?
In recent years the media have slowly woken up to the story of Christian persecution around the world. The tragic dwindling of ancient Christian communities in Iraq and Syria has become more widely known. Even so, interest is limited. It is no cause célèbre.
Major outlets did cover worsening persecution of Christians in the form of an Open Doors report in January. This time there was no such coverage. The media aren’t ready, yet, to start blaming governments and the UN for neglecting Christians’ suffering – after all, they are still barely aware of it themselves.
What will happen next?
After two years of “record-breaking persecution”, the evidence from Iraq, Syria and Nigeria shows that “things have at last begun to get better”, said John Pontifex of Aid to the Church in Need. The UN and international community – who missed their chance to help Christians during persecution – now have an opportunity to rebuild lives instead. Pontifex explained that growing extremism has eroded community relations and left Christians in an extremely fragile position. Any further flashpoints could, therefore, be devastating.
✣The week ahead
Pope Francis will call astronauts in space next Thursday. He will speak to six astronauts – three Americans, two Russians and an Italian – aboard Nasa’s International Space Station. The station orbits the Earth at a height of 220 miles. In 2011 Benedict XVI became the first pontiff to make such a call, speaking via videolink to 12 astronauts for 20 minutes.
The funeral Mass for Mgr Augustine Hoey will be held at noon today at Westminster Cathedral. The priest, who died aged 101, converted to Catholicism in his late 70s. Cardinal Vincent Nichols will preside at the Mass.
Kenyans are scheduled to vote in a second general election on Thursday after an election in August was annulled over “irregularities”. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has left the race, saying he expects a repeat of the same problems. Bishops have called for dialogue instead of violence and “hate speech”, and said “the risk of a full-blown conflict and collapsing economy is real”.
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