Dear Catholic Exchange:
St. Paul wrote, “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them…do not repay anyone evil for evil…do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, 'vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink…do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.” (Rom. 12:14-21) “Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Rom. 13:9-10)
Even if Pope John Paul II and the Roman Catholic Church had not called for a moratorium on the death penalty, the Word of God ought to challenge Christians. “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Mt. 9:13) If there can be any justice in exacting pain upon the criminal, it ought to be done by our overflowing graciousness and hospitality.
Must we offer the convicted murderer upon the altar of American justice? How much more ought Christians love the notorious sinners, those most in need of the Lord's mercy — and ours? Is not the call of the gospel to love the loveless? Are we not all loveless? St. Paul wrote, “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) Therefore, what gives us the right to cast stones? Dare we claim for ourselves moral and spiritual ascendancy and condone State sanctioned killing? Did not Christ himself say, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone?” (Jn. 8:7)
Christians who legitimize their stance on the death penalty claim, as a tenet of their faith, that no one is good, “all have fallen short of the glory of God;” even the newborn is stained with the effects of Adam's sin. Therefore, those who claim that the convicted murderer deserves death betray an inconsistency in their theology. Christ came to call the sinner — even the most wretched. Was not Christ's blood enough to cover the sins of murderers? Jesus did not teach us to deprive anyone of life because of their sins or the exorbitant costs of maintaining inmates or for any other reason. Jesus said, “When I was in prison, you visited me.” He did not say, “When I was in prison, you executed me.”
The Christian journey teaches us to love and forgive those especially difficult to love. Mother Teresa taught the world that those who are the most unlovable are the ones we are called to love. She reminded us that it hurt Jesus to love us, saying that we must also love our neighbor until it hurts. Even prisoners upon death row must be afforded the dignity of human beings created in the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God!
Jesus said, “Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful,” and “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” What about the image of the Good Shepherd? Christ did not give us an exception to the rule “love thy neighbor.” Otherwise, the Good Shepherd would have allowed the lost sheep to plummet over the edge of the cliff to its death.
For those who quote the Hebrew Scriptures in support of the death penalty, the Lord is clear in Ezekiel, “As I live, I do not desire the death of the sinner but that he turn back to me and live. Do I derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?” (Ezek. 18:23,32)
The execution of the guilty person removes his opportunity for conversion and repentance, or in the least, cuts the time short. And capital punishment can neither restore the victim to the family nor lessen the grief and pain of the survivors. Only mercy and love can uplift and assuage grief.
Christ taught us that we must love our enemies — not that it would be a good idea, but that we must love them. It is a mandate from the Lord himself. Christians must align their will to the will of God. The New Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the necessity for execution “very rare, if not practically non-existent.”
The U.S. Bishops have called capital punishment cruel and unnecessary punishment. There will be those who argue that, in the letters of Saint Paul, one will find legitimate authority given to rulers to execute the criminal in such verses as Romans: “Let everyone be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority, opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves.”(Rom. 13:1-2) Had we literally obeyed that then perhaps slavery should never have been abolished and abortion should not be opposed, since the former was legally sanctioned and the latter is still sanctioned (Incidentally, adultery and violation of the Sabbath rest were once capital offenses).
The author of Les Misérables, Victor Hugo, an avid abolitionist of the death penalty in the Nineteenth Century, wrote the following words in his novel, concerning a convicted murderer placed upon the scaffold of the guillotine: “He whom man kills God restores to life. He whom his brothers drive away finds the Father….We may be indifferent to the death penalty and not declare ourselves either way so long as we have not seen a guillotine with our own eyes. But when we do, the shock is violent, and we are compelled to choose sides, for or against. Some admire it, others loathe it. The guillotine is the law made concrete; it is called the Avenger. It is not neutral and does not permit you to remain neutral….I didn't believe it could be so monstrous…Death belongs to God alone. By what right do men touch that unknown thing?”
Hugo then prayed that one day criminals “that were once scourged with anger shall be bathed with love. The Cross shall replace the gallows.” Let us pray.
John W. McMullen
Theology Instructor
Religion Department
Mater Dei High School
1300 Harmony Way
Evansville, IN 47720
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