Review article
https://doi.org/10.34075/sb.59.1.1
Popes of the beginning of Third Millennium and Their Relation to Death Penalty
Emanuel Petrov
orcid.org/0000-0002-0224-7803
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Split, Split, Croatia
Abstract
The paper presents the progress of church teaching on
the issue of death penalty at the time of the last three popes.
Although it was only with the ordinance of Pope Francis that the
death penalty was definitely declared inadmissible for the inviolability of the dignity of man and the right to life, the teaching and
declarations of his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI
confirm the same attitude. Certainly, the development of understanding the issue is evident in the Amendments to Articles 2266
and 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, made with the
aim of preserving and exhibiting the valuable deposit of Christian
teaching, which takes time to mature. In accordance with the
Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum, by which the Catechism
itself was approved in 1992, the three popes have faithfully stood
in defence of man’s dignity in this matter, exposing the doctrine
based on the Revelation, the Scriptures, and the Church Tradition,
striving to illuminate with the light of faith the new circumstances
and perceptions of contemporary society.
Keywords
death penalty; John Paul II; Benedict XVI; Pope Francis; dignity of the human person; life
Hrčak ID:
217763
URI
Publication date:
7.3.2019.
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