Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The III International Congress “No justice without life,” organized by the Community of Saint Egidio on the theme: “From Moratorium to the Abolition of Capital Punishment,” took place on September 29 in Rome, after two “colloquiums” (2005 and 2007), in which foundations were laid for a common effort in the abolition of the death penalty. This third convention was illumined by the approval of a Universal Moratorium and was full of talks and testimonies moderated by Mario Marazziti of the Community of Saint Egidio.
The greeting from Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, reassured as to the Church’s care in safeguarding the value of human lives, even of criminals and murderers. “The penalty should be redemptive,” the Cardinal said, recalling the praise of Pope Benedict XVI at the approval of the moratorium, as a starting point in the discussion on the sacred value of life. These concepts were touched upon once more by Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, who after 20 years in Africa, realized how many more abolitionist countries there were on the continent, and how many are now using the moratorium. The Church defends life, as a universal value, and Christians should believe “in the strength and the grace of the repentance, that transforms hearts and lives,” the Archbishop added.
Among the most important testimonies were those of several countries that have been recently facing the issue of abolition of the death penalty. Josè Luis Soberanes Fernandes, President of the National Commission of Human Rights in Mexico, told of how, through an awareness of life as a fundamental right, his country had, with difficulty, eliminated the death penalty in 2005, and later voted in favor of the moratorium at the UN. It is still a hot topic in Mexico, due to the waves of violence linked to drug trafficking. However, statistics show that in Mexico the death penalty did not reduce crime (the last execution was in 1961) and that justice cannot be imposed through institutionalized homicide, such as the death penalty.
In the Philippines, before 1972, the death penalty was frequent, as Erin Tanada III, President of the Human Rights Commission, explained at the Congress. It was abolished in 1987 and later reintroduced in 1994. The first execution was it 1999 and by 2000, seven people had died in this manner. These events led to a profound reflection in the Philippines, mixed as well with attempts of a religious character, as well as from pressures from the European Union and human rights organizations. All of this finally led to the abolition of the death penalty in 2006. The Community of Saint Egidio, in March 2007, became the advocate of a mission, returning to the topic of the death penalty and asking for Kazakhstan’s participation in signing the Moratorium. Kazakhstan has responded by joining the moratorium proposed by Italy to the UN, and working to find a legislation directed towards a complete abolition of the death penalty. (PC) (Agenzia Fides 2/10/2008)
