To the editor:
Pope John Paul II stated: “A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil . Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform.”
Pope Francis has stated: “Indeed, nowadays the death penalty is unacceptable, however grave the crime of the convicted person. It is an offence to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human person; it likewise contradicts God’s plan for individuals and society, and His merciful justice.”
I in no way want to diminish the evil and harm caused by people that commit terrible crimes — like the NYC terrorist — but if we execute them, it does not bring healing to the families of those killed nor bring their loved one back to life. Instead it will have a destructive effect on us. We will end up at the level of the perpetrator and become the very evil we deplore.
In addition, as the death penalty is debated, remember that one group is left out who have been given the death sentence. A group who are executed each day in the United States without a trial or any appeal, simply because they are tiny, voiceless, defenseless, and are unwanted; namely the 3,000 pre-born children who live on a new “death row” — a mother’s womb — and whose capital punishment is brutally carried out EACH DAY on them by abortionists.
Father Jim Hewes
Greece
