San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone recently wrote an America Magazine article in which he discusses the Catholic Church’s view of the death penalty, saying that capital punishment is no longer necessary. 

“Criminal justice is also social justice,” Cordileone tweeted recently to underscore his message. “When crime rates soar, it is the least among us, the poor and minorities, who pay the highest price. But today we no longer need capital punishment to protect the common good.” 

Cordileone concedes that the death penalty is not an “intrinsic evil” like abortion (the killing of an innocent life), but he asserts that abolishing capital punishment is a necessary good. He referred in his article to Pope Francis’ decision to revise the Catechism in 2018 to reflect that the Church considers capital punishment “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” and stating that the church works “for its abolition worldwide.” 

Cordileone offered several points of argument to back up his views. 

One thing is that the threat of being put to death doesn’t seem to deter criminal activity. He made reference to a 2020 study from Japan (published by the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University), that said: “Neither the death sentence rate nor the execution rate has a statistically significant effect on the homicide and robbery-homicide rates, whereas the life sentence rate has a significant negative effect on the robbery-homicide rate.” 

Cordileone also said that the possibility of killing an innocent person is a good reason to halt capital punishment.

“Those of us who follow Jesus Christ must also consider this: Our Lord—who from the cross where he was wrongly executed called out, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’ —teaches us that we must be concerned with the soul of the guilty,” Cordileone wrote in his article. “The death penalty abruptly ends the possibility of conversion and mercy.” 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) also says Church opposes capital punishment.

”The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of life in every situation,” St. Pope John Paul II said in 1999, the USCCB says. “A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. . . . I renew the appeal I made . . . for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary.” 

Pope Francis also has publicly criticized the death penalty.

In his “Fratelli Tutti” encyclical, Pope Francis directed Catholics to work toward abolishing the death penalty. "Today we state clearly that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible’ and the Church is firmly committed to calling for its abolition worldwide,” he wrote. An encyclical is considered an authoritative Church document.