Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort<\/em> and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, which includes about 140 organizations from around the world.<\/p>\n\u201cIt is an offense to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human person,\u201dthe Pope continued, pointing out, \u201cIt likewise contradicts God\u2019s plan for individuals and society, and his merciful justice. Nor is it consonant with any just purpose of punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noting this sentence does not render justice to victims, but instead fosters vengeance, Francis reminded those watching, \u201cThe commandment \u2018Thou shalt not kill\u2019 has absolute value and applies both to the innocent and to the guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, the Pope told them, is a proper occasion for the world to better respect the life and dignity of each person.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt must not be forgotten that the inviolable and God-given right to life also belongs to the criminal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Pope also encouraged all to work not only for the abolition of the death penalty, but also for the improvement of prison conditions, so that they fully respect the human dignity of those incarcerated.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Rendering justice,\u2019\u201d he highlighted, \u201cdoes not mean seeking punishment for its own sake, but ensuring that the basic purpose of all punishment is the rehabilitation of the offender. The question must be dealt with within the larger framework of a system of penal justice open to the possibility of the guilty party\u2019s reinsertion in society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before concluding, assuring the participants of his prayers, Pope Francis said, \u201cThere is no fitting punishment without hope! Punishment for its own sake, without room for hope, is a form of torture, not of punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI trust that this Congress can give new impulse to the effort to abolish capital punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
On ZENIT\u2019s Webpage:<\/p>\n
For full text: http:\/\/zenit.org\/articles\/popes-video-message-for-world-congress-against-death-penalty-in-oslo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good. Pope Francis: \u2018Death Penalty Is Unacceptable\u2019 Pope Francis has reaffirmed that the death penalty is unjustifiable today. In a video-message transmitted tonight to the participants of the VI World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Oslo, Norway, underway through June 23, the Pontiff stressed, \u201cNowadays, the death penalty is unacceptable, however grave the crime of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8008,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950\/revisions\/8008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}