Few debates in today’s partisan divide in the United States compel individuals to flip their position on a political issue. I have found that the death penalty, one of the most emotional topics of our time, is one of them. It provokes a fundamental question the state must answer in its awesome power – who should live and who should die? Should the state even have the power to answer that question?
Of course, carrying out capital punishment is different than law enforcement officers defending themselves from an imminent threat or a soldier serving in a just war operation. The death penalty in the United States is for defenseless human beings who the state has already incarcerated.
For the Church, the answer to whether the death penalty should exist is clear, highlighted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s declaration that the “death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.” No public authority should have the ability to remove the dignity that God alone provides by affirming that a person should no longer exist. A person does not lose his or her dignity in committing a crime, even the most heinous acts of violence often found in death penalty cases.
No public authority has the right to definitively remove the possibility of redemption through execution when effective methods of detention exist. Offenders deserve an opportunity to encounter the same Jesus Christ who transformed St. Paul from a murderer to an apostle. I have been blessed to celebrate Mass with men on death row in Ohio who repent of their sins, desire the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and actively minister to others sentenced to death. How much more value could their lives bring if, instead, they served life in prison as active examples of the merciful father to God’s prodigal children?
We, the faithful and clergy, are directed to work toward the abolition of the death penalty worldwide as part of our mission to spread the Gospel. The Church’s teaching on this issue, especially the clarity in St. John Paul II’s teaching through Pope Leo XIV, warrants more attention. However, I want to shift to other compelling reasons to get rid of the death penalty.
While many Catholics holding public authority in Ohio accept the Church’s teaching and seek to follow her directive to abolish it, non-Catholic Christians do not hold the same theological or moral perspective. Instead, they oppose the death penalty for other reasons:
“Infallible Government” – Some believe the government does not hold the competency to decide whether a citizen should be killed at the hands of state employees. Indeed, stories of those released from death row and freed from prison demonstrate that courts make mistakes and have likely killed innocent citizens. If we cannot trust the government in other matters, how can we trust it to never make a mistake in executing a citizen?
Moral and Emotional Toll – Others highlight the distress that executing an individual places on those working in a correctional facility. It is unnatural to expect that violating a core law of God, “Thou shall not kill,” would have no effect on those following orders to kill a defenseless human being. Mr. Gary Mohr, former director of Ohio’s prison system, has noted the “profound impact” overseeing and carrying out 15 executions has had on him. Mr. Mohr now opposes the death penalty and calls for its abolition in Ohio. Other prominent public officials in Ohio have turned against the death penalty, including two former governors who signed execution orders and another director of Ohio’s prison system who oversaw many executions. We await an official announcement from Governor Mike DeWine on his position on the death penalty, as Ohio has wisely paused any executions during his tenure.
No Deterrent – No matter how “efficiently” states might facilitate death sentences and executions, a deterrent effect does not exist through a reduced murder rate in states with the death penalty. In fact, those states require a higher use of taxpayer funds for mandatory court appeals and for segregating death row inmates from the rest of the prison population. Public officials opposing the death penalty also cite unequal application of the death penalty, choosing who dies and who spends their life in prison based on a geographic location or the quality of legal representation.
Compassion – Lastly, we can empathize with the perspective of victim family members, who suffer greatly and desire some sort of closure through capital punishment, although this position is far from uniformly held among victim family members (see Rachel Muha’s story). Harder to empathize with are those who demand some lives do not deserve to exist anymore, despite the ability of the state to ensure those who have inflicted great harm no longer pose a threat to society. We must walk with victims and seek the correction and conversion of offenders.
As Catholics seeking to serve the One who creates each person in His image and likeness, we cannot accept the intentional killing of defenseless humans. We must hold fast to ensuring that each person, regardless of their circumstances of origin or the heinousness of their actions, receives protection under the law from people or public authorities who proclaim they no longer have a right to live. The infinite dignity bestowed by our Creator supersedes any claim to decide who lives and who deserves to die.
Brian Hickey serves as executive director for the Catholic Conference of Ohio, the official voice of the Catholic Church in Ohio on matters of public policy. Visit ohiocathconf.org to learn more and sign up for monthly updates on legislation in Ohio.