exclamation

Important notice: To continue serving our valued readers during the postal disruption, complete unrestricted access to the digital edition is available at no extra cost. This will ensure uninterrupted digital access to your copies. Click here to view the digital edition, or learn more.

Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Holy See's Permanent Observer to the United Nations, told the UN Human Rights Council that the death penalty doesn't solve problems.
Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Holy See's Permanent Observer to the United Nations, told the UN Human Rights Council that the death penalty doesn't solve problems. Photo courtesy of Водник, Wikimedia Commons

The death penalty doesn't solve problems, archbishop tells UN

By 
  • March 8, 2017

GENEVA, Switzerland – The Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations reiterated the Vatican’s defence of all human life in a meeting with UN Human Rights Council on the death penalty.

“My Delegation reaffirms that life is sacred ‘from conception to natural death,’ and recalls the words Pope Francis, that ‘even a criminal has the inviolable right to life,’” said Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic last Wednesday.

He cited the words of Pope Francis: “For a constitutional state the death penalty represents a failure, because it obliges a State to kill in the name of justice. But justice is never reached by killing a human being.”

The archbishop also expressed concern for possible failures in human justice which may bring about the death of the wrong person.

“In this regard, one should consider that human justice is fallible and that the death penalty per se is irreversible. We should take into account that capital punishment always includes the possibility of taking the life of an innocent person.”

He also said that there is “insufficient evidence that the death penalty has a deterrent effect on crime.”

Globally, recent years have seen a trend against the death penalty.

Recent studies have shown a decrease in popular opinion of capital punishment. Some 80 percent of the American population favoured the death penalty for convicted murders in 1995, but a 2010 poll by Lake Research Partners found that support had dropped to 39 percent.

Fighting this trend is the Philippines, which is considering reinstating the death penalty, after it had been abolished in the country’s 1987 constitution.

Archbishop Jurkovic addressed the need for different avenues aimed at rehabilitation and society’s safety while also respecting life.

“My Delegation believes that more humane measures are available to address crime, ensuring the victim the right to justice and giving the criminal the chance to reform,” he said.

The archbishop reemphasized the goal of ending capital punishment and said that the Vatican supports “as an interim measure, the moratoria established by the 2014 General Assembly resolution.” He ended with an encouragement for better prison conditions and fair trials, regardless of criminal status.

(Story from the Catholic News Agency)

Tagged under:

Related items

More in this category: « D&P’s aid work given three-year $28.5M boost by Global Affairs Canada Bishop rejects South Sudan president's day of prayer as a political move »

Please support The Catholic Register

Unlike many media companies, The Catholic Register has never charged readers for access to the news and information on our website. We want to keep our award-winning journalism as widely available as possible. But we need your help.

For more than 125 years, The Register has been a trusted source of faith-based journalism. By making even a small donation you help ensure our future as an important voice in the Catholic Church. If you support the mission of Catholic journalism, please donate today. Thank you.

DONATE