Guest Commentary
By Art Cody
Why Catholics must oppose the death penalty
New Jersey’s Catholics should welcome the recent recommendation by the New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission to abolish capital punishment in favor of life in prison without parole. Such a recommendation is a first among state legislatures since the 1976 reinstatement of the death penalty and thus an important milestone in the Church’s struggle to end the death penalty in the United States.
This development also serves as an unequivocal statement regarding the sanctity of human life because it puts an increased emphasis on the sanctity of all life, even those who are guilty of great harm. All members of the Catholic pro-life movement should applaud this recommendation and assist in bringing it to legislative fruition.
Rejection of the death penalty is part of the overall mindset described by Pope John Paul II in his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae as the “culture of life.” The Holy Father pointed out that the death penalty is inconsistent with the culture of life as it does not cultivate an attitude of respect for life in society and in fact contributes to what he referred to as the “culture of death” pervasive in the United States. To defend life against the many threats to it posed by this culture of death, such as abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, our society requires a bedrock value which respects all life.
This value, sometimes referred to as the consistent life ethic, connotes a broader attitude in society about respect for all human life, a perspective which sees in each individual the reflection of the creator, regardless of that individual’s vulnerabilities, needs, or even sins. In the case of death row inmates, this undoubtedly requires us to take some of the more challenging words of Christ concerning forgiveness seriously.
Because he does not condemn, nor can we (John 8:1-11). Because we hope for mercy, we must show it as well (Matthew 5:7). What we do to the least on his brothers, we do to him. (Matthew 25:40). Mother Theresa summed it up well on a visit to San Quentin’s Death Row, “What you do to these men, you do to God.”
In keeping with this mandate for mercy, the church emphasizes redemption. The church, however, does not advocate pacifism and not only allows but requires governments to prevent future crimes by incarcerating criminals. The commission’s findings setting forth a life in prison without the possibility of parole for those who would now face death ensures that those murderers are not free to commit similar crimes, yet conforms to the church’s admonition against executions. So long as adequate means exist to otherwise restrain criminals, governments “ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender” (Evangelium Vitae, paragraph 56).
Or as Pope John Paul II later emphasized in a 1999 visit to the United States, “The dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil.”
Although the lives of those who would be subject to the death penalty in New Jersey are sufficient for Catholics to endorse the findings of the commission, there is much more to be gained by passage of the recommended legislation. In addition to the elimination of the evils which are inherent to the imposition to the death penalty, the church’s desire to abolish death penalty is rooted in the belief that an atmosphere of respect for all life must permeate society.
Resorting to capital punishment undermines this conviction and contributes to the culture of death. As Albert Schweitzer stated, “If a man loses reverence for any part of life, he loses reverence for all life.” To move beyond the taking of life by capital punishment requires us to see all human life as sacred, and the concomitant need to defend life at every moment of its existence.
Catholic moral tradition has something valuable to say in the face of the multiple threats today to the sacredness of human life, and with the commission’s recommendation, the church has such an opportunity. The bipartisan commission appointed by the legislature and the governor included the attorney general, a police chief, two prosecutors and a murder victim’s family members. It provided a well reasoned, morally credible and, importantly, politically viable report and recommendations to the governor and legislature.
However, despite the five public hearings and balanced nature of the commission, a small number of legislators are questioning the commission’s findings. The next few weeks and months are critical to the passage of legislation reflecting the commission’s recommendations. With Catholics making up approximately 40 percent of New Jersey residents, the importance of ensuring that our state level legislators are aware of the Catholic electorate’s support for the findings of the commission cannot be overestimated.
Art Cody is an attorney from Ridgewood. He is a member of the Committee on Capital Punishment of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and has served as the chair of the Religion and Death Penalty Subcommittee. He has represented inmates on death row in Texas and currently represents a condemned inmate in Alabama.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law