The Death Penalty and the Catholic Church

If one is unaware of Catholic teaching in its fullness, there may seem to be a contradiction when it comes to the death penalty. On one hand, the pope, especially the previous one, was very much against the death penalty, in fact, often writing to lawmakers and judges to have execution sentences commuted, in places such as the United States and other developed nations. The previous pope even said that in today's day and age, death sentences should almost never take place. This may seem to contradict the official teaching of the Church that the death penalty is not morally wrong in all cases. To understand the seeming disparity between these statements, it is important to understand the extent to which the death penalty is morally possible.

In his encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" (The Gospel of Life) issued March 25, 1995 after four years of consultations with the world's Roman Catholic bishops, John Paul II wrote that execution is only appropriate "in cases of absolute necessity, in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today, however, as a result of steady immprovement [sic] in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically nonexistent." (From PBS.org)

In other words, the death penalty should only be used in the case that if it wasn't, society would be at a serious risk, for instance of someone murdering many innocent people. This is very rarely the circumstance in developed nations such as here in Canada, or in the United States. It is possible that in our fallen human nature, we may at times wish to have someone pay the ultimate price, but we must look not at what we want, but what God wants, and ultimately God wants us to forgive those who hate us, and that all people no matter what their sins, seek forgiveness and attain salvation.

Abortion and the Catholic Church

As most people know, the Catholic Church is firmly against abortion. In fact, the Catholic Church is against killing any person, from the moment of conception to natural death. This includes abortion, mercy killing or euthanasia, suicide, murder, etc. In this short essay, I will discuss some of the major Catholic teachings surrounding these areas, and my personal feelings on the subject.

According to Catholic teaching, life begins at conception, the moment the sperm and egg join to form a single cell. At this point, the person receives a soul. It makes sense to say life begins at conception, because after that point the person does not come into existence, but rather grows and develops. However, he remains the same person. To say life doesn't being at conception, causes a contradiction for the entire definition of life. A person will start developing as a zygote, and continue to grow and develop until they reach full maturity. The points along the way are different stages of this development. A child is not fully developed at 3 months of age. They are still very dependent on their mother for nourishment and support. Yet no one would say these children are not alive, of course they are. Therefore, aborting a baby is killing a living being.

Abortion is also wrong because it takes away a person's right to have a life. Even if you do not believe that abortion is killing a living being, you cannot deny the fact that aborting a baby will remove its potential to live. You are removing its right to life. As an analogy for this, consider going to university and paying a large tuition fee. You are completing a 4-year program in order to become a nurse, which has been a life-long dream for you. However, 2 years into your program, a professor decides he doesn't like teaching anymore. You think this is no big deal, but then for some reason you get a letter stating that you are no longer allowed to continue your program and you've been kicked out of the university. You are assured that it had nothing to do with any of your actions and that your grades were fine. Panicked, you look around for another university that will help you complete your courses, but none will take you, and soon you learn no university will ever accept you. In fact, you learn, you will no longer be allowed to read any books. Even though nothing was taken away from you, you have lost the potential to earn a degree, and it was not due to anything you did. This example shows a great injustice. However, think about how much more unjust it is if it involves a life!

These are just two reasons to consider for being pro-life. Read the surveys on your own. They always show a huge proportion of women who have abortions not because of rape or incest, but because it wasn't "right" for them at the time. However, people fail to remember that you are placing your "convenience" above someone else's life. If you were walking down the road, to get to the store to buy candy, and on your way you noticed a man trapped beneath his car, would you say to yourself, I "would" rescue him, but it's not the right time in my life right now, I need to get some candy. No matter how embarrassing or inconvenient having a baby may be, it is not worth a life. Plus, there are many other options available, which do not consist of destroying a life.

I hope these few examples help you realize how important life is, and that our mission as Catholics, Christians, and indeed people of this Earth, is to help everyone have the right to life!