Pope Francis Contradicts himself on the Death Penalty

I wish he was still Pope

We all know that Pope Francis has taken it in himself to declare war on the Catholic teaching on the death penalty.  He has changed the catechism and has further expanded on this in his recent encyclical Fratelli Tutti. Sadly though, in his efforts to promote heresy, he contradicted himself.  Let’s be honest, Francis isn’t known for his orthodoxy in terms of Church teaching.  It’s no surprising that in opposing the teachings of the Church(found in scripture, tradition, and magisterial documents), he contradicts himself.

The death penalty used to be 100% accepted in all church documents.  John Paul II muddied the waters and now Francis opposes it in all forms.  Here is the new key paragraph(2267) in the catechism:

Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.

Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.

Consequently, the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”, and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.

Although this isn’t the point of this post, I can’t help but think of the energy in with which he opposes the death penalty.  He states that the Church “works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”  I wish he’d have similar enthusiasm in opposing homosexual “marriage”, especially in traditionally Catholic countries where it’s spreading like wildfire.

All that aside, I want to focus on this part of the paragraph:

Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.

Well, that’s good.  At least they’ll be safely locked away so they can’t harm innocent citizens who aren’t committing crimes.  If not the death penalty, this is the next best thing, right?

I should point out that neither this or his other reason refute the traditional Catholic support of the death penalty.  This came out in a debate between Timothy Gordon and Trent Horn.  Trent Horn got completely owned trying to defend this novel position.  This is odd because normally Trent Horn is pretty good in apologetics.

In paragraph 68 of Fratelli Tutti Francis writes:

All Christians and people of good will are today called to work not only for the abolition of the death penalty, legal or illegal, in all its forms, but also to work for the improvement of prison conditions, out of respect for the human dignity of persons deprived of their freedom. I would link this to life imprisonment… A life sentence is a secret death penalty”.

Life imprisonment is a secret death penalty.  I would presume it means that it would have to be abolished as well.  In other other words, everyone gets a second chance at society.  However, this contradicts his first argument.  He said in his catechism correction that:

more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.

So we have fancy prisons that work but can’t use life imprisonment either?  What’s the point?  If they’re supposed to get out again, the point is utterly moot.  Pope Francis should oppose the misuse of the death penalty, not the death penalty itself.