SFX for LifeA Web Ministry of the Gospel of Life Committee,
The Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier, Hunt Valley, Maryland

Issue: Death Penalty

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Update on the Death Penalty In Maryland


Legislators approve tightening restrictions on death penalty use SB 279 an important advance

Special thanks to the Maryland Catholic Conference for this article. Hat tip: Karen Wingard

UPDATE:The House of Delegates on March 26 approved a plan to severely restrict cases in which the death penalty may be applied in Maryland. Under Senate Bill 279, which Gov. O'Malley has said he will sign into law, capital punishment can only be pursued in cases where there is biological or DNA evidence, a videotape of the crime in progress, or a voluntary, videotaped confession. While this falls short of full repeal, which the Maryland Catholic Conference will continue to work toward, SB 279 is an important step forward and will help ensure that innocent individuals are not executed. Thank you for your continuing support of efforts to uphold the human dignity of all individuals.

Read the rest of the article: http://www.mdcathcon.org/deathpenalty

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A Personal Perspective on the Death Penalty

For me the most compelling reason to repeal the death penalty is that our imperfect human quest for justice should not allow for the irreversible penalty of death. If a life must be taken for the sake of justice, then it should be the result of the perfect judgment of the Lord. Ironically, by acknowledging our shortcomings and lack of authority as human judges, we enhance our chance of achieving justice by leaving the decision of life or death to God.

The Senate's effort to limit executions is inadequate as it only addresses the level of proof required to show that the defendant committed the crime. The issue of whether death is the just punishment involves much more then mere guilt or innocence. As humans we can never be sure that we have considered all that should be known to assure that the killing of a human being is God's justice, much less that we have reached the right conclusions as to those matters.

Kevin, GOL Member
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Relevant Quotations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church

2267

Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically non-existent."

1021

Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul -- a destiny which can be different for some and for others.

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