The Pope and Me...

Recently, Pope Benedict XVI articulated his support for sweeping political and social action to end the death penalty internationally.

Pope Benedict, like Pope John Paul II, has been a consistent voice against the death penalty.  He has called on governments within the United States and other countries to commute sentences of criminal offenders facing the death penalty.  Indeed, the Catholic church has been opposed to the death penalty for decades, but ramped up its opposition in the early 1990s.

The death penalty, particularly as used and applied in the United States disproportionately affects people of color, the poor, the marginalized and the disenfranchised of our community.  While there are some within fundamentalist Christian circles that have sought to justify support for the death penalty (while incidentally in the same breath vehemently opposing abortion) using Old Testament passages, any Christian support for the death penalty is contrary to every one of Jesus' teachings.

While the Catholic church is not perfect, it is refreshing to see a Christian communion standing firmly and consistently against the death penalty,