Pope, Moore disagree on morality of death penalty

Pope Francis is calling for Christians worldwide to fight to end the death penalty, citing Exodus 20:13: “Thou shalt not kill.”

“All Christians and people of goodwill are called today to work not only for the abolition of the death penalty, but also to improve the conditions of life in prison in the respect of human dignity of people deprived of freedom,” he said in a Feb. 21 speech marking the Year of Mercy, according to Catholic News Service.

Pope Francis also said life imprisonment is “a hidden death penalty” and believes governments should find alternate routes of rehabilitation.  

Russell Moore, however, expressed concern about the Pope’s comments in his blog post, “Is the Pope Right About the Death Penalty?” While he agrees with Pope Francis’ opinion on the value of human life, Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said the Bible does not support the Pope’s argument. 

Distinction between covenants

“The new covenant applies a command of capital punishment in the old covenant to church excommunication in the new (1 Cor. 5:13; Deut. 13:5),” Moore wrote. “Even so, the point here is that the Mosaic Law itself draws a distinction between murder and lawful execution by the state.”

Moore pointed out that there are sometimes issues with the application of and racial and economic disparities in capital punishment.

“Christians can debate whether a state should declare a moratorium on capital punishment while reforming unjust sentencing practices. Christians can debate whether the death penalty is effective as a deterrent or whether the death penalty is meaningful at all in a world in which legal systems delay for years the application of the penalty,” he said.

‘Prudential debates’

“These are prudential debates about how best to order our political systems, not debates about whether every act of state killing is murder and thus immoral and unjust,” he said. 

But the Pope’s comments apply the commandment against murder to all capital punishment, Moore said. “On that I believe he is wrong.”

Moore concluded by noting that Christians may disagree, with valid arguments, about the death penalty. 

“But as we do so, we must not lose the distinction the Bible makes between the innocent and the guilty. The gospel shows us forgiveness for the guilty through the sin-absorbing atonement of Christ, not through the state’s refusal to carry out temporal justice.”