The National Catholic Reporter revealed on Thursday 2nd August that ‘Pope Francis has ordered a revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to assert “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” and to commit the church to working toward its abolition worldwide’.

The news service comments that this revision builds on the scepticism of Pope John Paul II that capital punishment could be justified if the dignity of all human life is to be affirmed.

The new draft of the Catechism will declare:

“Today … 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.”

For the full NCR report, click here.