“We, the Catholic Bishops of Pennsylvania, join the Holy Father in calling for a re-examination of the death penalty.”

So say the Keystone State's 17 bishops in their 2,200-word statement The Death Penalty: Choose Life, a review of Catholic moral and social teaching on this vexing subject.

Why revisit this issue now? The Pennsylvania bishops expressed their opposition to capital punishment back in a 1987 statement. In 1994 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops took the same stance in a pastoral message, “Confronting a Culture of Violence,” which it reiterated in “An Appeal to End the Death Penalty” on Good Friday, 1999.

Yet, in the past few years, circumstances in Pennsylvania have changed. Executions of criminals convicted of first-degree murder were resumed in 1995, after the electric chair had collected dust for 30 years. The state's death-row population — presently 241 — is growing. And recent changes in federal and local laws accelerate the execution timetable, as the bishops note, by restricting review by the courts or intervention by the governor.

The Catholic bishops of Pennsylvania have noted these changes in the socio-political landscape and responded to them, asking that readers prayerfully reflect on their rationale. “We believe that it is crucial,” they write, “to continue the proclamation of the teaching of the Catholic Church on the fundamental sanctity of all human life.”

This, of course, is the primary consideration: Human beings are God's creatures, made in God's own image. “Accordingly, there is a moral presumption against human beings killing other human beings.” A second consistent Church teaching concerns the legitimate right of government to protect society by punishing wrongdoers. In the past, the Church allowed an exception to its presumption against taking human life, following St. Thomas Aquinas' teaching that executing the offender may sometimes be necessary to preserve the common good.

With both of these principles in mind, the Church's teaching on the use of capital punishment has been refined and is becoming more explicit. This is evident in the 1995 encyclical The Gospel of Life, in the revisions made to the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1997 to reflect that teaching (No. 2267), and in the interventions of Pope John Paul II on behalf of condemned criminals.

The Feb. 12 statement formulates the new emphasis as follows: “Modern society has the means of protecting itself and preserving the common good without the necessity of capital punishment. The Holy Father's words are more a development in the use of the state's right rather than a change in the teaching of the Church on that state's right.”

The death penalty inflicts great harm on society'

Having summarized the Church's teachings, the Pennsylvania bishops turn to practical arguments. They cite studies by law enforcement officials showing that the death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent.

“Not only does the death penalty fail to protect us; it inflicts great harm on individuals and society,” the bishops write. Errors in the criminal-justice system can lead to the conviction and sentencing of innocent people.

Furthermore, there is an inherent miscalculation in capital punishment.

“Reliance on the use of the death penalty creates a greater harm to society by reinforcing the idea that violence is a solution to society's problems,” the bishops note. “The death penalty will not overcome violent crime any more than abortion will end the problem of unwanted pregnancy or euthanasia will solve the problems of aging and illness.”

What about justice and “closure” for those mourning the victims of violence? Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia addressed this concern while testifying before the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee one year ago. “Those who suffer unimaginable grief as a result of the senseless murder of one dear to them deserve the love and support of everyone,” he said. “They have a right to expect that justice will be done and that the perpetrator of a crime will be punished swiftly and effectively.”

Yet an appeal to the survivors' well-being cannot be made the basis of demands for vengeance. Speaking as pastors, the bishops insist that “true emotional, spiritual and even physical healing is found in the compassionate embrace of Jesus, who practiced forgiveness and teaches us to do the same.”

“We believe the use of the death penalty should be abolished,” the bishops write. “We envision no circumstances in modern American society that could justify its continued use. We wholeheartedly support legislation for a moratorium as well as a study of the theory and practice of capital punishment in Pennsylvania.”

The bishops express their hope that Pennsylvania's Catholics will have a significant impact on the culture, based on their love for Jesus, by becoming consistent witnesses to the dignity of every human being. They suggest a charity that reaches out to the family and friends of both victims and offenders as well as to corrections personnel.

“The Death Penalty: Choose Life” is a pastoral application of Catholic teaching to recent developments in American society. In making their position heard, the bishops of Pennsylvania are like a prophetic voice in the moral wilderness brought on by a culture of death. They conclude by citing Ezekiel 33:11: “The Lord God says, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but rather in the wicked man's conversion, that he may live.’”

Michael J. Miller writes from Glenside, Pennsylvania.