The death penalty remains one of the most contested moral and legal issues in American society. Catholic Social Teaching (CST), rooted in the sanctity of human life, justice, and the common good, has evolved significantly on this Historically, the Church supported capital punishment as consistent with natural law and Scripture.[1] However, in 2018, Pope Francis declared the death penalty “inadmissible,” emphasizing every human’s inviolable dignity.[2] This development reflects legitimate doctrinal progression, not contradiction. Examining capital punishment through CST principles, including human dignity, restorative justice, the role of the state, and evolving papal teaching, demonstrates that abolition best serves justice and the common good.

The death penalty, which is the state-sanctioned execution for capital offenses, remains an evolving legal and moral debate given its irreversible nature.[3] The U.S. Supreme Court has long upheld capital punishment as constitutionally permissible, though subject to evolving standards of decency.[4] In Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), the death penalty was temporarily halted due to its arbitrary and discriminatory application.[5] It was reinstated in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), under stricter procedures.[6] Subsequent rulings barred execution for juveniles and individuals with intellectual disabilities.[7]Currently, there are 27 states in the United States that authorize capital punishment for crimes such as murder, treason, or assassinating federal officials.[8]

 

For centuries, the Catholic Church upheld the state’s right to impose the death penalty as an act of retributive justice, grounded in Scripture, tradition, and natural law. In recent decades, however, Church leaders have increasingly narrowed the legitimate application of the death penalty.  The Church’s early stance, rooted in passages like Genesis 9:6 and Romans 13:4, accepted the state’s authority to punish with death.[9] Genesis teaches that “whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed,” while Romans depicts the state as God’s[10] Though often cited to justify capital punishment, alternative interpretations suggest Genesis instead implies that God alone holds ultimate authority to judge, challenging the traditional interpretation[11]

Early Church figures held varying views on capital punishment. St. Clement of Alexandria justified execution for those deemed “incurable,” while St. Augustine acknowledged the state’s authority but urged mercy.[12] This tension set the stage for modern reform. Pope St. John Paul, who in Evangelium Vitae (1995) urged that executions be “rare, if not practically nonexistent,” given modern means to protect society.[13] Pope Benedict XVI advanced this focus on human dignity, supporting abolition efforts.[14] This development culminated under Pope Francis’s 2018 Catechism revision, which declared that the death penalty is “inadmissible” as an affront to human dignity.[15]

Central to CST is the principle that every human is created in God’s image with inherent dignity that cannot be forfeited, even through sin or crime.[16] Pope John Paul II affirmed that “not even a murderer loses his personal dignity,” a view echoed in the 2018 revised Catechism, which teaches that “the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes.”[17] Pope Francis reiterated in Fratelli Tutti that denying dignity to criminals denies it to everyone.[18] These teachings undermine moral justification for executions, which permanently eliminates the chance for redemption.

While the state has a duty to uphold the common good, modern penal systems can protect society without taking life.  The Catechism continues to acknowledge that “preserving public order and the safety of persons” is a legitimate function of punishment.[19] While the state has a duty to protect the common good, this may no longer include the death penalty as a proportionate punishment.

A related CST principle, the preferential option for the poor, underscores how the death penalty disproportionately affects marginalized communities.[20] Avery Cardinal Dulles, an influential American Catholic theologian, identified several concerns regarding capital punishment, citing jury bias and inadequate legal defense for poor and uneducated defendants.[21] The U.S. bishops have also condemned capital punishment as both a life and racial justice issue, calling for its abolition in solidarity with the vulnerable[22]

The Catholic Church’s position on capital punishment has evolved, reflecting continuity in moral principles while responding to contemporary realities. Traditionally, however, the Church affirmed the state’s right to impose capital punishment as a means of retributive justice, consistent with classical natural law theory.[23] A clear contradiction in the Catechism gives rise to scholarly arguments that the church has not, and cannot, change its traditional teaching, as it explicitly references the fifth commandment, which forbids the intentional killing.[24]

Catholic scholars, Edward Feser and Joseph Bessette, maintain that Genesis 9:6 supports the state’s authority to impose death for grave crimes.[25] Recent magisterial developments, however, have shifted to prioritize the sanctity and dignity of every human life, calling for the abolition of the death penalty in modern society. Sister Renée Mirkes similarly argues that the Church’s essential teaching remains intact while its application is shaped by cultural and historical realities.[26] Pastors thus have a duty to exercise prudence, considering modern injustices such as racial bias, inadequate legal counsel, and wrongful convictions.

This development presents a challenge for Catholic legal professionals, as they are obliged not only by oath and professional commitment, but they are also to adhere to their church’s teaching on moral issues.[27] While the U.S. Constitution continues to permit the death penalty, many Catholic judges, including the late Justice Antonin Scalia, have struggled with reconciling personal belief and professional duty.[28] Scalia questioned how a Catholic judge might impose the death penalty despite moral opposition: “How, as a Catholic judge, can he participate in the process of imposing the death penalty when the Church says it’s immoral to do so?”[29] The Church ultimately urges the faithful not merely to tolerate current legal frameworks but to actively work for change.

The Church’s rejection of capital punishment is not a break from tradition but a fulfillment of it. Grounded in human dignity, CST recognizes that justice and mercy cannot coexist with killing as punishment. The Church’s evolution mirrors society’s moral progress toward safeguarding life and promoting rehabilitation. For Catholic legal professionals and citizens alike, the moral imperative is clear: uphold the sanctity of life, advocate for justice that heals, and build a society where redemption remains possible for all.

[1] University of St. Thomas – Minnesota, Catholic Social Teaching – Toward Justice and Healing (Blog), https://blogs.stthomas.edu/toward-justice-and-healing/category/catholic-social-teaching/, (last visited Oct. 23, 2025).

[2] Catechism of the Catholic Church ¶ 2266-2267, VATICAN (1993),

https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_three/section_two/chapter_two/article_

5/i_respect_for_human_life.html.

[3] Death Penalty, Legal Info. Inst., https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/death_penalty (last visited Apr. 12, 2025).

[4] Id.

[5] Id.

[6] Id.

[7] Legal Info. Inst., supra note 1, (citing Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005) (The Supreme Court banned the death penalty for juvenile offenders); Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) (The Supreme Court banned the death penalty for intellectually disabled criminals); Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002) (The Supreme Court required a jury, not merely a judge alone, to find an aggravating circumstance necessary to impose the death penalty)).

[8] Death Row in the United States, The Crim. Def. Team (Aug. 29, 2024), https://www.criminaldefenseteam.com/death-row-in-the-united-states/.

[9] Nathan Mastnjak, The Death Penalty and the Consequences of the Literal Meaning of Genesis 9:6, University of Notre Dame (Sept. 12, 2023).

[10] Genesis 1:27 (ESV); Romans 13:4-7 (ESV).

[11] Mastnjak, supra note 9.

[12] The Death Penalty and the Church’s Position, Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, https://capp-usa.org/the-death-penalty/ (last visited Apr. 13, 2025) (citing Augustine, Letter 134, para. 4; Stromata 1:27).

[13] Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, supra note 4, citing St. John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, no. 56.

[14] Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, supra note 4.

[15] Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops Regarding the New Revision of Number 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the Death Penalty, Vatican (Aug. 1, 2018), https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20180801_catechismo-penadimorte_en.html.

[16] Genesis, supra note 10.

[17] St. John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae ¶ 56, Vatican (Mar. 25, 1995), https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html; Catechism of the Catholic Church ¶ 2267, Vatican (1993), https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_three/section_two/chapter_two/article_5/i_respect_for_human_life.html.

[18] Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti ¶ 269, Vatican (Oct. 3, 2020), https://www.vaticannews.va/en/podcast/fratelli-tutti/2022/09/fratelli-tutti-audiobook-english-chapter-seven-part-three.html.

[19] Catechism of the Catholic Church ¶ 2266, Vatican (1993), https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_three/section_two/chapter_two/article_5/i_respect_for_human_life.html.

[20] Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium ¶ 198, Vatican (2013), https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html#The_special_place_of_the_poor_in_God%E2%80%99s_people.

[21] Renee Mirkes, The Catholic Response, Saint Paul VI Institute, 60 https://saintpaulvi.com/PDF/SrReneeArticles/DeathPenalty.pdf (last visited Apr. 1, 2025).

[22] Brian Bransfield, Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (Oct. 29, 2024), https://www.usccb.org/resources/open-wide-our-hearts_0.pdf.

[23] Gerald Korson, The Catholic Case for Capital Punishment, Catholic Answers (May 1, 2017), https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-catholic-case-for-capital-punishment.

[24] Vatican, supra note 28 at ¶ 2269; Catholic Answers, supra note 35.

[25] Catholic Answers, supra note 35, (citing Joseph Bessette & Edward Feser, By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of the Death Penalty, Ignatius Press (2017)).

[26] VI Institute, supra note 33, at 56.

[27] Amy C. Barrett & John H. Garvey, Catholic Judges in Capital Cases, 81 Marq. L. Rev. 303 (1997-1998), https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/527.

[28] VI Institute, supra note 33, at 57.

[29] VI Institute, supra note 33, at 57.