ROME – Jesuit Father James Martin insisted Tuesday that President Donald Trump is not “pro-life” after the president reinstated the death penalty at the federal level.
“Enough being ‘pro-life’” Father Martin I wrote In response to a post by the Associated Press (AP) declaring that President Trump has “signed a full-scale execution plan,” X (formerly Twitter) [sic] It issued a death penalty order and directed the attorney general to “take all necessary and lawful steps'' to ensure that the state has sufficient lethal injection drugs to carry out the death penalty. ”
in his leadership orderPresident Trump said the death penalty is an essential tool to deter and punish those who would commit the most heinous crimes and deadly acts of violence against the American people.
“Before, during, and after the founding of the United States, our cities, states, and nations have relied on the death penalty as the ultimate deterrent and the only appropriate punishment for the most despicable crimes.” said.
In 2022, Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki publicly corrected Father Martin's assertion that pro-abortion Catholic politicians have a right to receive Holy Communion.
“Father James Martin contradicts fundamental Catholic moral principles and theology in his writings. case “I oppose the denial of Holy Communion to those who continue to commit clear grave sins,” Bishop Paparoki wrote in a prepared statement. essay in wall street journal (WSJ).
“When Jesus broke bread to sinners, he called them to conversion,” declared Paprocki, who is also a lawyer for the church. “Jesus did not leave them in their sin. He required them to choose between following him or rejecting his call.”
separately articleThe bishop noted that one issue that is frequently proposed as being morally equivalent to abortion is the death penalty.
“But the death penalty is not in the same moral category as abortion,” Paprocki wrote. “While abortion is an inherent evil, the death penalty has been called “unacceptable'' by Pope Francis. It is a judgment.”
In his 1995 encyclical letter Evangelium VitaePope John Paul II told political leaders to prioritize punishment by “bloodless means” when it is “sufficient to protect human life from the aggressor and protect public order and people's safety.” recommended that it should be done.
At the same time, he clearly distinguished between the punishment of the guilty and the absolute right to life of the innocent.
While great care must be taken to respect all life, even the life of a criminal or unjust aggressor, “the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' refers to the innocent.” “It's absolutely worth it if you do,” he wrote.
“The direct and voluntary killing of innocent human beings” such as abortion and euthanasia “are always highly immoral,” he declared.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later to become Pope Benedict XVI) wrote in 2004: abortion and euthanasia,” contrasting these issues with the death penalty.
“While there may be a natural diversity of opinion among Catholics about the waging of war and the application of the death penalty, this is not the case when it comes to abortion and euthanasia,” the future pope said.
In the same memorandum, Ratzinger wrote: “If a Catholic disagrees with the Pope over the use of the death penalty or the decision to wage war, that should not disqualify him from the clergy.” This does not apply to
Pope Francis declared the death penalty “unacceptable” and “contrary to the Gospel.”
Importantly, however, the Pope has never claimed that capital punishment is capital punishment. inherently evilsuch as abortion and euthanasia, which certainly directly contradicts past teachings.
Physicians of the Church, from St. Ambrose to Augustine to Thomas Aquinas to Robert Bellarmine to Alphonse Liguori, all taught the moral legitimacy of the death penalty.
As a sovereign territory, Vatican City only abolished the death penalty in 1969, and for almost all of the church's history, capital punishment has been accepted as a legitimate punishment for serious crimes.
Over the centuries, hundreds of criminals executed In the Papal States, it is under the control of the Pope.
