The Pope's warning, "the death penalty is inadmissible"

"The death penalty is inadmissible." The Pope's voice rises firmly against governments that still use this extreme instrument against those who have committed crimes. Starting with his own country, the United States, where the Pentagon has even announced a streamed execution, that of Nidal Hassan. Leo XIV, on today's World Day Against the Death Penalty, reiterates the Church's opposition to every capital execution "because it attacks the inviolability and dignity of the person. The common good can be protected and the requirements of justice can be safeguarded without resorting to capital punishment: effective detention systems have been developed that protect citizens but, at the same time, do not completely deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption," Leo XIV underlines in a message on X. Meanwhile, Christa Pike, who survived two lethal injections, has been discharged from the hospital and has returned to prison where, her lawyers reported, her treatment will continue. The 50-year-old, convicted in 1995 for the murder of a woman her own age and on death row for decades, was hospitalized for more than a week. Now her case's outcome is awaited. The Pontiff's voice comes after the firm condemnation already expressed by the Church regarding what was announced in the United States about Hassan's online execution. While the American bishops had spoken of "barbarity," Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin had called this decision by the War Department "unacceptable" and "incomprehensible." Video Pope Leo invokes peace in the Holy Land The distances between the Holy See and the United States have emerged more than once during the pontificate of the first North American Pope in history, between the attacks of US President Donald Trump and the prompt responses (prompted by the press) of Robert Francis Prevost. This episode marks a new rift, and the Holy See sides completely with the American bishops, who had already expressed words of condemnation on other issues, from the treatment of migrants to the violence of Ice. Pope Leo had spoken of the death penalty in a video message last April to DePaul University in Chicago, his city, on the occasion of a commemorative event for the 15th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in the State of Illinois. Video Hulk meets Pope Leo XIV: 'A childhood dream fulfilled' Recalling that the Church protects human life from the moment of conception until natural death, the Pontiff had underlined that "the dignity of the person is not lost even after the most serious crimes have been committed." Words that refer directly to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, amended on this point by Pope Francis in 2018, in which the commitment to the abolition of the death penalty throughout the world is reaffirmed. Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA