Catholic Church and the Death Penalty Term Paper

Catholic Church and the Death Penalty - Term Paper Example he issue of death penalty or the so-called â€Å"capital punishment† (from the Latin word ‘capitalis’ to describe â€Å"that which related to life, by which life is endangered†) [1] and how it has changed over time. Capital punishment has already been practiced since the ancient times. In Genesis 9.5-6, we find: â€Å"If anyone takes human life, he will be punished. Human beings were made like God, so whoever murders one of them will be killed by someone else.† [2] This was the very first formal declaration of the penalty of death ever recorded in the Judeo-Christian history. When the Israelites journeyed from Egypt to the Sinaitic Peninsula, the Lord gave them a code of legislation (mostly found in Exodus 21) (Ibid.) which prescribed death as the penalty for some acts: murder (Ex. 21.12); willful assault upon the parents of an offender (Ex. 21.15); kidnapping (Ex. 21.16); cursing someone’s parents (Ex. 21.17), etc. The Bible has mentioned several accounts where death has been a crucial part of legislation in the ancient times. But it has some exceptions in as much as it is strictly imposed: â€Å"But if it was an accident and he did not mean to kill him, he can escape to a place which I will choose for you and there he will be safe.† (Ex. 21.13) Thinking that death penalty is intrinsically evil, most people probably do not realize that it is legal and therefore say that it is â€Å"not approved† by the Church. On the contrary, the Church has a long history of approving it. In his City of God (Book 1, Ch. 21), St. Augustine of Hippo deems the imposition of death penalty as â€Å"not contrary† to the commandment â€Å"Thou shall not kill† and signifies approval of death penalty based on certain exceptions [3]. By this statement, St. Augustine mentions about God’s â€Å"explicit commission to an individual for a limited time,† (Ibid.) thereby exempting the individual from the killing â€Å"since the agent of authority is but a sword in the hand and is not