Courtney McGrailWebWatch
The editorial boards of the US’s leading Catholic publications have joined forces to oppose the death penalty. A common editorial at NCRonline.org, NCRegister.com, AmericaMagazine.org, and OSV.com sees American Catholics from across the political spectrum declaring themselves united on this issue.
Describing how the US Supreme Court will next month hear arguments in Glossip v. Gross, an Oklahoma case that challenges the most widely used lethal injection protocol as being cruel and unusual punishment, the editorial boards anticipate a ruling by June, and say: “Our hope is that it will hasten the end of the death penalty in the United States.”
Describing capital punishment as abhorrent, unnecessary, and “insanely expensive”, the editors point out that the American Church has fought for decades against the death penalty, noting how Pope St John Paul II amended the Catechism to include its de facto prohibition, and recalling how last year, Pope Francis called on all Catholics “to fight… for the abolition of the death penalty”.
When the death penalty is enacted, Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles Chaput is cited as saying, governments act in the name of their citizens by ordering and perpetrating lethal injections, and thus make ordinary citizens responsible for adding to – instead of healing – violence.
Mercy Sister Camille D’Arienzo is quoted as saying that when mothers who attend annual services for the families and friends of murder victims are asked what they want for their children’s killers, nobody asks for the death penalty. Their reason, she says, is that they don’t want other mothers to suffer as they have done. “Their hearts, though broken,” she says, “are undivided in their humanity.”
Citing Miami’s Archbishop Thomas Wenski and Boston’s Cardinal Seán O’Malley on how “we cannot teach killing is wrong by killing” and how “institutionalised practices of violence against any person erode reverence for the sanctity of every human life”, the editors urge their readers along with the whole US Catholic community and all people of faith to join them in saying: “Capital punishment must end.”
Bringing God’s values into the world
Over at the Anglican site archbishopcranmer.com, Gillan Scott points out that “Anyone who thinks that Christianity and politics should never mix must be highly irritated at the moment.
“A week doesn’t seem to go by without some form of conference, event or launch where these two subjects take centre stage, giving media types more than enough to pontificate about in the process.”
Scott describes himself as greatly encouraged by this, saying, “As we head towards this year’s General Election, a growing movement is taking shape: the widespread involvement of Christians in politics, which has played such a crucial part in defining this nation’s history, is being rediscovered with a new-found passion and vigour.”
Citing a recent ‘Faith in Politics’ conference involving Christian Aid, Greenbelt, and the Children’s Society as an instance of such, he warns, however, against simplistic attempts to claim Jesus for any particular political outlook, which can all too easily result in our treating as outcasts those with whom we disagree.
Seeking authentic witnesses
Over at the Anglican site archbishopcranmer.com, Gillan Scott points out that “Anyone who thinks that Christianity and politics should never mix must be highly irritated at the moment.
“A week doesn’t seem to go by without some form of conference, event or launch where these two subjects take centre stage, giving media types more than enough to pontificate about in the process.”
Scott describes himself as greatly encouraged by this, saying, “As we head towards this year’s General Election, a growing movement is taking shape: the widespread involvement of Christians in politics, which has played such a crucial part in defining this nation’s history, is being rediscovered with a new-found passion and vigour.”
Citing a recent ‘Faith in Politics’ conference involving Christian Aid, Greenbelt, and the Children’s Society as an instance of such, he warns, however, against simplistic attempts to claim Jesus for any particular political outlook, which can all too easily result in our treating as outcasts those with whom we disagree.