When Pope Francis recently met with representatives from the Commission Against the Death Penalty, he gave them a letter encouraging their efforts. His condemnation of capital punishment is far more fundamental than that commonly made in the U.S. and goes further than the standard authoritative statements of Catholic social doctrine.
While the relevant language in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church allow for the death penalty to be employed under certain circumstances, the pope deems it "inadmissible." The justifications he offers warrant careful consideration.
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