The “Catholicism” of Capital Punishment

Not long after the start of the Duterte Administration, a house bill has already been authored to restore the death penalty.

One of the interesting arguments for the restoration of capital punishment (synonymous to death penalty) is a religious one. Manny Pacquiao, senator and boxer, is a controversial figure in the pro-death penalty movement because of his Christian views towards its imposition. He claims that it is in accordance with the bible, citing the book of Romans 13: 1–7 in the New Testament.

Pacquiao’s statements were met with scrutiny, ridiculing him for his alleged misuse and misinterpretation of the teachings of the bible. The criticisms range from the “Christianity” of his views (coming from the dissonance of imposing death and Christianity’s central theme of love and forgiveness) to calling him out for basing his views solely on the Old Testament (which is obviously not the case).

I am writing this essay not to defend Pacquiao, but to clarify whether or not being pro-death penalty is within the realm of Christianity (specifically, Catholicism). The short answer is it does.

Separation of Church and State

Before I present why it is not non-Catholic to call for the reinstatement of the death penalty, I would like to assert that it is not a violation of the separation of the Church and the State to include religious beliefs in political arguments and policy-making.

The separation of the Church and the State signifies the separation of the institutions between the two. This means that the Church is autonomous with respect to the powers of the State, and vice versa. Unlike the earlier histories of man, the head of the state cannot nominate nor appoint persons in ecclesiastical positions. Similarly, the Church cannot be given state powers like policing.

To reiterate, the separation of the Church and State is a separation between institutions. Thus, a clergyman can run for a position in congress as long as it does not result in the infringement of the autonomy of the state from the Church.

This goes the same with bringing in one’s faith in political arguments. What happens when congressmen cite bible verses to support their policies, or when the CBCP comments on birth control is not the violation of the separation of Church and State. What happens is the exercise of democracy.

Thou Shalt Not Murder?

The most common religious argument of the opponents of the death penalty is the Fifth Commandment: Thou shalt not kill. This seems very obvious since criminals are killed in carrying out the death penalty. However, is the prohibition to take a life absolute?

Not exactly. It is interesting to note that some versions translate the fifth commandment to “Thou shalt not murder” instead of “Thou shalt not kill”. Even Jesus Christ himself clarified in the King James Version of Matthew 19:18 that the fifth commandment spoke of “murder”, not “killing”. It is of significance to note that the word used in the KJV version of the fifth commandment was “kill”.

This has a huge implication in looking at the fifth commandment. Killing and murder are two different acts. Killing is the mere taking of a life, whereas murder is unlawful killing with intent.

The death penalty is the killing of a criminal, sure, but is it unlawful? Of course not. Capital punishment is a government-sanctioned penalty carried out by the state. When reinstated, it will be well within the realm of the law.

However, the fifth-commandment-thumpers still have something to hold on to. They can use their fifth commandment to fight against the street killings of drug pushers and drug users, as the killings are outside the rule of law and are premeditated. But it seems futile to use the verse against the reinstatement of the death penalty.

Correctional Powers of the State

The verses cited by Manny Pacquiao (which is not Leviticus, by the way) calls for Christians to submit to the state because “these authorities are established by God”. We are also reminded that the state has the power to exact punishment towards the wrongdoers. But as the human civilization evolved, we find out that the legitimacy of the authority of the state does not come from God but from the people.

Still, the Catholic Church acknowledges the state’s responsibility to punish a wrongdoer in proportion to the offense for the primary goal of retribution (CCC 2266). Retribution is not necessarily vengeance, but the restoration of order that was disrupted by the criminal offense.

In fact, the Catholic Church explicitly stated in its Catechism that it does not exclude death penalty as a punishment. The only condition that the Church allows this is if it is the only way of defending human lives against the criminal (CCC 2267, Evangelium Vitae 56).

Pope Francis on the Death Penalty

The Church has allowed the state to exact capital punishment until Pope Francis, who recently called for the abolition of the death penalty. All of a sudden, the supreme leader of the Roman Catholics recognizes that the fifth commandment applies to the innocent as well as the guilty. He even goes the extra mile and states life sentences as a “hidden death penalty”.

Pope Francis’ statements on capital punishment were not met with universal acclaim among the Catholics. Other Catholics were quick to point out the problems in the logic carried out by the Pope in his radical call to abolish capital punishment.

First, it is bizarre for the Pope to have a view that is absolutely contrary to former Catholic teachings. The Church has never wholly prohibited capital punishment as long as it falls under certain circumstances, but then Pope Francis suddenly equated the fifth commandment as absolute without addressing the previous teachings of the Church that not all killing bears equal weight.

In contrast, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (before his election as Pope Benedict XVI) criticized the argument that every form of killing bears equal weight, pointing out it is permissible for the state to have recourse on capital punishment, but never on euthanasia and abortion.

Second, in explaining that the death penalty is imposed not as self-defense but as a crime committed in the past and cannot commit crime in prison, Pope Francis fails to realize that prisoners can still commit harm in prison not only to the people within the premises but also in conspiring with free civilians outside of the prison cells (the Bilibid Prison Raid should ring a bell).

In short — as to not exhaust all of Pope Francis’ statements on capital punishment — his arguments towards its abolition are unconvincing even to Catholics who are against the death penalty.

The Purposes of Punishment

I intended to write this essay to inquire whether or not it is truly “un-Christian” to be for the reinstatement of capital punishment. The topic of connecting Catholicism and capital punishment was interesting because people in my Facebook newsfeed and Twitter timeline were stressing themselves out over the likes of Manny Pacquiao and other “radical” Christians who seem to be hypocrites as these people are also usually pro-life (maybe I’ll tackle abortion in another essay, but not in the context of Catholicism). I merely wanted to see what Catholic doctrine does say about the death penalty. Again, I found out that the Catholic Church allows it in certain but rare circumstances. It is incorrect, irresponsible, and lazy to tell someone that he/she is not a “True Catholic” just because that person has a different view as yours.

As I was browsing through Catholic references regarding the death penalty, I stumbled upon an article which outlines the four purposes of punishment as outlined by Catholic Tradition:

1. Retribution: if the punishment restores public order that was disturbed by the crime.
2. Defense of society: if the punishment avoids further perpetuation of the crime by the offender.
3. Deterrence: if the punishment avoids further perpetuation of the crime by other citizens.
4. Rehabilitation: if the punishment is able to allow the offender, at a minimum, to prevent doing the crime in the future, and to ideally become a better person.

(Rehabilitation is also recognized by Catholics at a spiritual level. Thus, rehabilitation is still available even if the criminal is given the death sentence if he/she is able to ask God for forgiveness before his/her death.)

I end this article with the four purposes of punishment because it is a good outline in understanding whether or not the death penalty should be reinstated. It is complete, more organized, and certainly less stressful than bringing out one’s religious beliefs that may not actually be in line with the aforementioned religion.