Death Penalty

The Latest

Colorado Catholic Conference supports bill to repeal death penalty

Mar 7, 2019

By Perry West

As a measure to repeal Colorado’s death penalty passed a Senate committee this week, the Colorado Catholic Conference has expressed... Read more

Saudi Arabia flag.

Bishop objects to death sentence for Filipino woman in Saudi Arabia

Mar 5, 2019

A bishop in the Philippines is speaking out against the death penalty of a Filipino woman who has been condemned... Read more

Supreme Court.

Supreme Court overturns death penalty for man with intellectual disability

Feb 19, 2019

In a ruling released Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the death penalty sentence of a Texas inmate whom... Read more

Bishops ask Supreme Court to hear case on racism in death sentencing

Feb 19, 2019

Three U.S. bishops have called on the Supreme Court to take up the case of a death row inmate in... Read more

South Korean bishops call for an end to the death penalty

Feb 14, 2019

The South Korean bishops’ conference has called for an end to the death penalty, and asked the nation’s Constitutional Court... Read more

A lethal injection chamber in California.

Muslim denied presence of imam at his execution in Alabama

Feb 8, 2019

A Muslim man convicted of murder has been executed in Alabama without his imam present, despite the man’s requests to... Read more

Washington state bishops support repeal of death penalty

Feb 8, 2019

The Catholic bishops of Washington state are expressing support for a senate bill that would repeal the death penalty.  Read more

Pope Francis celebrates Mass for the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple in St. Peter's Basilica, Feb. 2, 2015.

Pope Francis: Death penalty a ‘legalistic’ value, not a Christian one

Dec 17, 2018

The death penalty is always a rejection of the Gospel and of human dignity, and therefore must be rejected by... Read more

David Earl Miller. Courtesy: Tennesee Department of Corrections.

Hours before execution, Tennessee governor rejects killer’s plea for mercy

Dec 6, 2018

By JD Flynn

Hours before David Miller is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee’s electric chair, the state’s governor has rejected Miller’s request... Read more

Catholic judge defends death penalty sentence on theological grounds

Aug 29, 2018

A Catholic judge in Ohio who recently sentenced a man to death defended his decision on both legal and theological... Read more

With inmate's fate unclear, Florida bishops pray to end death penalty

Aug 13, 2018

The Catholic bishops of Florida have asked for continued prayers for an end to the death penalty following the stay... Read more

Two medical syringe close-up.

Tennessee executes first prisoner since 2009, despite plea by bishops

Aug 10, 2018

Tennessee carried out its first execution in nearly a decade on Thursday evening. Governor Bill Haslam allowed the lethal injection... Read more

Pope Francis celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday in St. Peter's Square in April, 2018.

Pope Francis and the death penalty: a change in doctrine or circumstances?

Aug 3, 2018

By Ed Condon

Catholic theologians have weighed in on changes Pope Francis has made to the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s teaching on... Read more

St. Peter's Basilica.

Vatican changes Catechism teaching on death penalty, calls it ‘inadmissible’

Aug 2, 2018

By Hannah Brockhaus

Thursday the Vatican changed the Catechism’s teaching on the permissibility of the death penalty, which the Church has taught is... Read more

Is Church teaching changing on the death penalty?

Jul 20, 2018

By Ed Condon

The Church has consistently taught that the state has the authority to use the death penalty. But, in recent years,... Read more

Bishops object as Illinois governor pushes to reinstate death penalty

May 15, 2018

The Catholic Conference of Illinois decried the governor’s call to re-establish the death penalty, which has not been used in... Read more

Study finds decline in global death penalty numbers

Apr 12, 2018

After a record-high year of death sentences implemented around the world in 2016, a new report released by Amnesty International... Read more

Death penalty for drug dealers? Catholic group responds to federal memo

Mar 22, 2018

The Trump administration’s call for increased use of the death penalty in drug-related crimes will not address the root causes... Read more

Botched execution shows death penalty must end, Catholic group says

Mar 13, 2018

By Christine Rousselle

As a death row inmate in Alabama sues the state over a botched execution last month, a Catholic advocacy group... Read more

Colorado bishops support religious freedom of jailed Mennonite

Mar 4, 2018

Colorado bishops have released a statement of solidarity with a Mennonite investigator who has been imprisoned for failing to testify... Read more