CARDINAL
AVERY DULLES,
S.J.,
Archbishop of Indianapolis
Statement
Scheduled Execution of Timothy McVeighIt would be difficult to
imagine a more heinous crime than the catastrophic explosion of
the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April
1995. We can't imagine the full impact of the shocking loss of the
families and friends whose loved ones, including small children,
were victims of human madness. We continue to pray for the victims
and their families.What twisted mind could perpetrate such a crime
against innocent humanity? Not a foreign terrorist, but a citizen
from America's heartland masterminded this act of violence.Timothy
James McVeigh was tried and duly convicted of this sordid crime in
a court of law. He has been sentenced to death, and there is
little sentiment in favor of staying his execution, now less than
a month away. As we approach the first federal execution in our
country in more than 38 years, many believe no criminal is more
deserving of the death penalty.Like no other, the McVeigh case
tests the mettle of the emerging Catholic view about the
inappropriateness of capital punishment. Rational analysis is
difficult in the face of the emotion that this man's crime evokes.
The "tantalizing" manner in which this is becoming a
national media event compounds the task. Yet, in matters such as
this, the good of society requires that we rise to the challenge
of a measured and larger vision.Last October, Jesuit theologian
Avery Cardinal Dulles traced the history of religious teaching on
the death penalty through the ages and demonstrated that the
Catholic Church has consistently asserted that the state has the
authority to exact capital punishment and, in principle, does so
today."It is agreed," Dulles said, "that crime
deserves punishment in this life and not only in the next. In
addition, it is agreed that the state has the authority to
administer appropriate punishment to those judged guilty of crimes
and that this punishment may, in serious cases, include the
sentence of death.But, what is "appropriate" punishment?
This is the question raised for our day by Pope John Paul II.
Dulles outlined the four purposes of criminal punishment in
general:Rehabilitation. The penalty should try to bring the
criminal to repentance and to moral reform. (Under certain
circumstances this could lead to a return to normal civil life.)
Defense against the criminal. The government is obliged to protect
society by preventing the criminal from committing additional
crimes. For heinous crimes, the Church favors life imprisonment
without parole rather than death. Deterrence. Punishment should
discourage further violence and crime. We believe life
imprisonment without parole does so. Retribution. Punishment
should try to restore the right order violated by the crime. A
criminal should pay a price for the offense committed. If possible,
the victims of the crime should be compensated for the wrong
suffered. This does not mean revenge. Dulles also summarized four
objections to capital punishment in our day:Wrongful death. The
possibility that the convict may be innocent is the more common
reason for opposition to the death penalty. A significant number
of wrongly accused criminals on Death Row have been proven
innocent. Revenge not justice. The death penalty seems to fan the
flame of revenge (and violence) rather than foster a genuine sense
of justice in society. Devaluation of human life. Capital
punishment contributes dramatically to the devaluation of human
life in an escalating culture of death. Incompatibility with
Christian forgiveness. While pardon does not remove the obligation
of justice, capital punishment seems incompatible with the
teaching of Jesus about forgiveness. Even as our Church opposes
the death penalty in a case as awful as McVeigh's, we do not
question, in principle, the state's right to impose the death
penalty. Yet we must oppose the death penalty because the
circumstances of our day do not warrant it. Pope John Paul II
wrote in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life),
"As a result of steady improvements in the organization of
the penal system," cases in which the execution of the
offender would be absolutely necessary "are very rare, if not
practically non-existent" (#56).The Church's teaching about
the state's authority does not change, but the state should not
exercise its right if the evil effects outweigh the good. In
recent times, the death penalty does more harm than good because
it feeds a frenzy for revenge, while there is no demonstrable
proof that capital punishment deters violence.Revenge neither
liberates the families of victims nor ennobles the victims of
crime. Only forgiveness liberates.To be sure, we, as a society,
must never forget the victims of crime and their bereaved loved
ones. The truly honorable memorial is to choose life rather than
death. Most Rev. Daniel M. Buechlein, O.S.B.Archbishop of
Indianapolis General ChairmanIndiana Catholic Conference Member,
Committee on Pro-Life Activities National Conference of Catholic
Bishops April 2, 2001
__________
1
The Laurence J. McGinley Lecture, Fordham University, October 17,
2000, titled, "The Death Penalty, A Right to Life Issue?"
EXCERPTS
FROM A PRESENTATION BY CARDINAL AVERY DULLES, S.J.,
at
a March 29-30, 2001 Symposium on "The Morality of the Death
Penalty" at the Catholic University of America's Columbus
School of Law in Washington, D.C.:
"Some
of the arguments against the death penalty are weak, even mistaken,
but others have considerable force.The strongest objections, in my
opinion, are those tending to show that in practice, capital
punishment is either useless or counter-productive. In our nation
today, the death penalty fails to manifest the justice of God,
because the state is no longer seen as having divine authority.The
execution of criminals is commonly interpreted as an assertion of
society's dominion over life and death, and as a collective act of
revenge against the culprit. In this atmosphere, the death penalty
promotes a culture of violence and cheapens respect for life. The
death penalty has little or no deterrent value, perhaps because it
is so rarely enforced and because executions are so long delayed.
To increase the number of executions and to accelerate them would
be difficult without making miscarriages of justice more likely
than they already are. For all these reasons, there are solid
grounds for calling a moratorium on death sentences or even
removing the penalty from the statute books. Measures such as
these would not require any change in doctrine. It is compatible
with the thesis that the state has the right under certain
circumstances to inflict capital punishment. The right should not
be exercised except when necessary to achieve the purposes of
punishment, and when the harmful effects do not exceed the
benefits. The question of opportuneness is essentially continued
and relative since what is opportune at one time may be
inopportune at another. Speaking of societies such as our own, the
pope and the bishops seem to be in agreement that the death
penalty is inopportune and should not be imposed. My own
reflections point to the same conclusion.One could, of course,
contend the whole tradition was wrong, and the death penalty is
intrinsically evil. But to sustain that thesis, one would have to
produce new and compelling arguments based on revelation. Such
arguments have not yet been made, and I doubt that they can be
made. The Church has full confidence in the revelation of God,
communicated through scripture and tradition. This tradition is
universal and constant, and enjoys strong Biblical support. It
deserves to be honored and upheld."
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