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Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) Statement on Capital Punishment During the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy

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Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) Statement on Capital Punishment During the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) Statement on Capital Punishment During the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy HUMAN LIFE IS GIFT FROM GOD 1. We, the Roman Catholic Bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference in the Caribbean welcome the proclamation by Pope Francis of a Holy Year of Mercy which commenced with the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on the 8th day of December 2015, and which will end on the Feast of Christ the King on the 20 th day of November 2016. 2. During this period we are re-doubling our efforts to fulfill the Holy Father’s desire that “all those places where the Church is present, especially our parishes and our communities, may become islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference!” 1 3. We continue to “serve the Church as official teachers of the faithful: to inform consciences of Christians, to appeal to the justice and goodwill of all peoples, and to assist and challenge state leaders in the protection and greater development of the common good. Our moral teaching finds its source in Scripture, and it follows the sacred traditions of the Apostolic Church. From these, our teaching consistently promotes an ‘ethic of life.’” 2 4. We join with the Universal Church to express our belief that human life is a gift from God and is sacred. We believe each human being has inherent dignity because we are all created in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26; Ephesians 2:10). Therefore we should protect and defend human life at all stages of development and in all circumstances. 5. In accordance with our ethic of life and in light of the present situation in the Caribbean, we commend to the Faithful and to all people of goodwill two of our Pastoral Letters, namely: 1 Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for Lent 2015: Make your hearts firm (Jas 5:8), para. 2 2 Jubilee Year 2000, Antilles Episcopal Conference Pastoral Letter on Capital Punishment, para.2 1 a. Jubilee Year 2000, Antilles Episcopal Conference Pastoral Letter on Capital Punishment; and b. We are called to proclaim, celebrate and serve The Gift of Life, Pastoral Letter of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, Rome, March 29 2008. 6. We reaffirm that “the prophetic voice of the Church must be heard especially in times of moral and social crisis.” 3 Thus, while we are appalled by the rise of violent crime in our region and express solidarity with the victims of crime and all those affected by crime, we urge politicians and citizens in our region to abolish capital punishment, that is, the death penalty and embrace a restorative justice approach to crime and violence. 7. As believers in Jesus Christ, “the Gospel of life is at the heart of the evangelizing mission of the Church, which must proclaim Jesus, the Word of life (John 1:1)… Jesus invites all people to celebrate and proclaim that they are people of life because God has redeemed us through the Cross, the source of all life. God has entrusted the Church with the responsibility of proclaiming, celebrating and serving the gift of life.”4 RESTORATIVE JUSTICE 8. A restorative justice approach focuses on holding the offender accountable in a more meaningful way and helping to achieve a sense of healing for both the victim(s) and the community; it embraces socialization, rehabilitation and reconciliation rather than retribution and vengeance. Restorative Justice can help us to achieve our goals. It is not a panacea for all social ills, but can be used effectively together with other policies. The key watchwords of a Restorative Justice approach lie at the heart of Christian living, for example, repentance, conversion, reparation, restoration, restitution, reconciliation, rehabilitation, forgiveness, empowerment, and re-integration with a sense of responsibility – as opposed to revenge, retribution, and vengeance. As we stated in our Pastoral Letter on Capital Punishment (2000): “…in all cases punishment must be guided by the spirit of love, which intends both the good of the transgressor as well as the good of the community. The spirit of revenge lacks this twofold Christian intention…5 3 Ibid, para.1 4 We are called to proclaim, celebrate and serve The Gift of Life, Pastoral Letter of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, Rome, 29 March 2008, para.1 5 Jubilee Year 2000, Antilles Episcopal Conference Pastoral Letter on Capital Punishment, para.8 2 9. Pope Francis is urging nations to realise that God’s justice is his mercy and that God is the essence of mercy. God’s infinite mercy extends to everyone – including those who have committed heinous crimes, who should be given opportunities to repent and to find peace with God and others. To build just, merciful societies, we must all play our part to put in place systems, procedures, and practices that will promote right relationships – with God, with ourselves, with each other, and with all of creation. 10. All recent International studies and research show that capital punishment does not act as a deterrent, nor does it foster respect for life in our communities. Hence, regardless of the potential unpopularity of our Gospel message that informs our position, we reaffirm the position: “Capital punishment symbolizes a form of despair for the effective reform of persons.” 6 11. The AEC Pastoral Letter The Gift of Life (2008), expressed the “firm desire that the leaders and people of Caribbean society move toward the total abolition of the Death Penalty…we should place emphasis on the rehabilitation of the offender rather than on his/her elimination”. 7 12. We believe that the protection of society and the common good are assured by a proper functioning justice system that detects and convicts, and by a prison system which focuses on rehabilitation. As the Holy Father affirms: “a growing opposition to the death penalty even for the legitimate defense of society because modern means exist to efficiently repress crime without definitively denying the persons who committed it the possibility of rehabilitating themselves.” 8 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS NOT THE ANSWER 13. We stated in our Pastoral Letter, The Gift of Life (2008) that “Very often those who support capital punishment invoke the text, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ (the ‘lex talionis’ – Lev. 24:20). This was, of course a most important development in the Old Testament’s understanding of justice. Justice must not seek revenge. The punishment due from injustice must be rational and not excessive. However, the ‘lex talionis’ was not the 6 Ibid, para. 1 7 We are called to proclaim, celebrate and serve The Gift of Life, Pastoral Letter of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, Rome, 29 March 2008, para. 32 8 Pope Francis, Feb 21, 2015, St Peter’s Square, Rome – http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-calls-for-worldwide-ban-on- death-penalty- a6887376.html 3 last word on this matter. In fact, Jesus gave us the last word: ‘you have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you: do not oppose evil with evil …’ (Mt. 5:38-39).”9 Of course Jesus became the best example of this teaching as he was an innocent man who became the victim of capital punishment. 14. We affirm that the Scriptures and the Church’s teaching does not provide the basis for the reintroduction or renewed use of the death penalty which continues to be under discussion in the region. “Violence always provokes more violence and deepens the culture of death.” 10 15. Pope Benedict XVI continued the work of Pope St John Paul II by encouraging countries around the world to end the death penalty as a legal sanction, for example, at his November 30, 2011 general audience. 11 16. Pope Francis has repeatedly called for the abolition of the death penalty. For example, on 20 March 2015 he outlined the Catholic Church’s opposition to capital punishment in a letter to the International Commission against the Death Penalty. He said: “For the rule of law, the death penalty represents a failure, as it obliges the state to kill in the name of justice. There is discussion in some quarters about the method of killing, as if it were possible to find ways of ‘getting it right’. But there is no humane way of killing another person.”12 We agree with him when he said during his visit to a prison in Mexico in February 2016 that: “Divine Mercy reminds us that prisons are an indication of the kind of society we are. In many cases they are a sign of the silence and omissions which have led to a throwaway culture, a symptom of a culture that has stopped supporting life, of a society that has abandoned its children.” 13 17. In February 2016, the Holy Father speaking to thousands at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican, asked politicians around the world to make a courageous and exemplary gesture during this Holy Year of Mercy. He said: “A spreading opposition to the death penalty, even as an instrument of legitimate social defence, has developed in public opinion, and this is a sign of hope. In fact, modern societies have the ability to effectively control crime without definitively taking away a criminal’s chance to redeem himself. The issue lies in the context of a perspective on a criminal justice system that is ever more conformed to the dignity of man and God’s design for man and for society. And also a 9 We are called to proclaim, celebrate and serve The Gift of Life, Pastoral Letter of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, Rome, 29 March 2008, para.
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